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

The Artist, from whom acquired by the previous owner circa 1951, and thence by descent
Sale, Phillips London, 21st November 1995, lot 43, where acquired by David Bowie

London, Tate, Henry Moore, 17th July - 22nd September 1968, cat. no.62 (another cast);
London, Lefevre Gallery, Henry Moore, Small Bronzes and Drawings, 30th November - 23rd December 1972, cat. no.7, illustrated p.21 (another cast);
Dallas, Dallas Museum of Art, Henry Moore, Sculpting the 20th Century, 25th February - 25th May 2001, cat. no.49, illustrated p.173 (another cast).

Ionel Jianou, Henry Moore, Tudor Publishing, Paris, 1968, no.218, p.73 (another cast);
John Hedgecoe (ed.), Henry Moore, Thomas Nelson and Sons Ltd., London, 1968, illustrated p.176 (another cast);
David Sylvester (ed.), Henry Moore: Complete Sculpture 1921-1948, Lund Humphries, London, 1988, cat. no.230, illustrated p.144 (terracotta version);
Nicholas Lynton et al., Henry Moore: The Human Dimension, Henry Moore Foundation Enterprises, Leeds, 1991, cat. no.56, p.81, illustrated (another cast);
John Hedgecoe, Henry Moore, A Monumental Vision, Collins & Brown, London, 1998, no.233, illustrated (another cast).

The sculpture appears sound. There is some rubbing and wear to the bronze and patina in places, most apparent to the reverse of the work. There are some traces of oxidisation, most apparent to the crevices at the lower half of the work at the front, and some light surface dirt. There are two tiny pin-prick impressions to the surface resulting from the casting process, one to the lower base at the reverse, and at the centre of the left side of the bench. Subject to the above, the work appears to be in very good overall condition. The work is freestanding. 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."

The concept of the family nucleus is one of the most universal themes in the history of human culture. For Henry Moore, the subject was a cornerstone of his work and it is a recurring idea throughout his oeuvre. Set within the post-war context when the present work was conceived, the group takes on the added significance as an emblem of hope, security and intimacy after the devastation wrought in all corners of the globe by the Second World War.

The genesis for Moore’s focus on the family has its roots in a number of projects – he had long been interested in the Mother and Child, carving early subjects such as Mother and Child (1929, Private Collection) and Mother and Child (1931, Hirschhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C.) but in the mid-1930s, the modernist architect Walter Gropius asked him to conceive a sculpture for a new school he was designing with Maxwell Fry in Impington, near Cambridge. The school would also function as a central meeting point for the surrounding communities and thus, the subject of a family seemed particularly apt. Moore filled nearly two sketchbooks with ideas depicting families in various poses and in the mid-1940s created at least fourteen small maquettes of family groups. The intimacy of the present arrangement undoubtedly recalls Renaissance treatments of the Madonna and Child together with St Peter and the child St John the Baptist, whilst the drapery on the figures is redolent of the Antique. In the context of the 1940s, the closeness of the family nucleus resonates in Moore’s work as an Official war artist – it was on descending into an underground station one night during a bombing raid that he was struck by the clusters of parents and their children huddled together taking shelter along the train platforms. The importance of family took on a personal significance in 1946 when his wife Irina gave birth to their daughter Mary.

Gropius’ Impington School commission was later shelved due to lack of funds however, importantly, F.R.S. Yorke resurrected the idea for the Barclay Secondary School in Stevenage and commissioned Moore to create his first monumental public sculpture – it is significant that such a pivotal commission should have been a family group.