Henry Moore, O.M., C.H.

bronze
length: 29.2cm.

Conceived in 1951 and cast in an edition of 8 plus 1.

Acquired by the present owner circa 1990

London, Hanover Gallery, Paintings 1918-1930 by Jean Metzinger and New Sculpture, Paintings and Drawings by Giacometti, Moore, Marini, Manzu, June - August 1952, cat. no.15 (another cast);
London, Arts Council Gallery, Three Young Collectors, November - December 1952, cat. no.37 (another cast), with Arts Council tour Chapel Bar Gallery, Nottingham, Bristol City Art Gallery, Bristol, Lincoln Art Gallery, Lincoln, Hatton Gallery, Newcastle and Arbroath Art Gallery, Arbroath.

Will Grohmann, The Art of Henry Moore, Thames & Hudson, London, 1960, illustrated pl.102 (another cast);
Herbert Read, Henry Moore, Thames & Hudson, London, 1965, p.188, illustrated (another cast);
Alan Bowness, Henry Moore Complete Sculpture 1949-54, Vol.2, Lund Humphries, London, 1965, cat. no.301, illustrated (another cast);
Ionel Jianou, Henry Moore, Arted, Editions d’Art, Paris, 1968, p.77, cat. no.282 (another cast);
Giulio Carlo Argan, Henry Moore, Hachette-Fabri, Milan, 1971, illustrated pl.101(another cast);
David Mitchinson (ed.), Henry Moore Sculpture with Comments by the Artist, Rizzoli, New York, 1982, p.112, illustrated pl.215, (another cast );
William S. Lieberman, Henry Moore - 60 Years of His Art, Thames & Hudson, London, 1983, p.123;
Henry Moore and John Hedgecoe, Henry Moore, My Ideas, Inspiration and Life as an Artist, Thomas Nelson & Sons Ltd., London, 1986, p.98 (plaster version illustrated).

Structurally sound. There are one or two tiny spots of very light surface matter, with a tiny possible indent of c.1.5cm. to the top surface, only visible upon extremely close inspection. There are one or two tiny casting pin holes visible upon extremely close inspection, but this excepting the work appears in excellent overall condition. Housed on a 4cm. high black stone base. The work i a little loose on its base. Please telephone the department on +44 (0) 207 293 6424 if you have any questions regarding the present work.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

'For me a work must first have a vitality of its own. I do not mean a reflection of the vitality of life, of movement, physical action, frisking, dancing figures and so on, but that a work can have in it a pent-up energy, an intense life of its own, independent of the object it may represent' (the Artist quoted in Read (ed.), Unit One: The Modern Movement on English Architecture, Painting and Sculpture, London, 1934, p.30).

Moore's interest in animal shapes spanned his career; indeed one of his earliest surviving carvings in boxwood is titled Small Animal Head, 1921(LH1A). This reoccurring theme in his drawings and sculpture arose not only from his interest in the transience of life, but also from a fascination with shape and form. Moore's concern with depicting volume in space (the contrast of solid elements in his sculpture with the space, not only around them, but through them), led him to observe the naturally occurring negative and positive spaces present in nature. He was inspired by the internal and external forms in the organic shapes of bones which he collected and the artefacts found in the ethnological museums that he so admired: `I have always liked the shape of bones, I have drawn and studied them in the Natural History Museum ...' (the Artist quoted in W.J. Strachan, Henry Moore Animals, Aurum Press Limited, 1983).

In the 1950s, the animal head appears in several of his drawings and sculptures, some are representative of the animal and others are imagined forms, or to use Moore's own words - 'Fabulous Animals'. Although the shape of the present work provokes associations with various animal heads, including a rhinoceros skull in his studio at Hoglands, Moore does not reference a specific species. Rather, this appears to be an abstracted and distorted creature which has been described as a 'fusion of a bird, bird head, fish, reptile and mammal, jaws agape and eye sockets wide open' (Reinhard Rudolph quoted in D. Mitchinson, Celebrating Henry Moore: Works from the Collection of The Henry Moore Foundation, London, 1998, p.231). Unlike other Animal Heads of this time (e.g. LH396), which appear truncated at the neck, this powerful work appears complete in itself. There is a solidity and smoothness to the bronze with its curvilinear forms, soft gaping mouth and sockets which penetrate into the depth of the head creating hollow spaces in the shape. Moore commented on his use of holes: `... the holes in my sculpture were made for their own sakes. Because I was trying to become conscious of spaces in sculpture ...' (the Artist quoted in Alan Bowness, Henry Moore Complete Sculpture 1949-54, Vol.2, Lund Humphries, London, 1965, p.11).

Despite resembling the worn bone of a decaying skull, there is an animate quality and contained energy to the work. It was this energy which Moore referred to in his statement on 'Vitality and Power of Expression' quoted above. Indeed, on a sketch of 1950, titled Drawing for Animal Heads (HMF2628) in which a series of related forms appear, he has written at the top: 'vitality' emphasising his preoccupation with creating a work with a compact power. There is a haunting quality to this indefinable organic form which echoes Moore's concern with mortality, decay and the predicament of man seen in his Helmet Head and Fallen Warrior series. This concern with mortality is evident in the work of other sculptors in these post-war years and in many ways Moore's Animal Head can be seen in the same context as Picasso's statement on death in his bronze Tete de Morte (1943).