亨利∙摩爾

Dr W. Schliom, Switzerland (acquired from the artist on 18th July 1957. Sold: Christie's, New York, 27th November 1989, lot 70)
Purchased at the above sale by the present owner

Zurich, Kunsthaus, Henry Moore, 1960, no. 43
Geneva, Galerie Gérald Cramer, Henry Moore, 1962-63, no. 15

Robert Melville, Henry Moore, Sculpture and Drawings 1921-1969, London, 1970, no. 510, illustration of another cast (titled Mother and Child No. 2)
Alan Bowness (ed.), Henry Moore, Sculpture and Drawings, London, 1986, vol. 3, no. 407, illustration of another cast p. 28

Dark brown patina on original stained wood base. There is some minor wear to the patina consistent with age. The lower section of the wooden base has a restored hairline fracture. Overall in very good condition.
"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."

In 1956 Henry Moore executed several sculptures on the theme of the seated female figure holding a child, and the present work is a wonderful and intimate example of this subject. This theme allowed the artist to experiment with the spatial relationships between the two figures – one larger and seated, the other smaller and standing – as he endeavoured to find a dynamic and harmonious compositional arrangement. In the present work, the mother is seated with her legs crossed and covered by a rhythmically undulating skirt, and her elongated arms are embracing the figure of the child standing on her lap.  Moore’s investigations into the relationship of internal and external forms were particularly intense in the early 1950s, and this dichotomy is beautifully rendered in the theme of mother holding a child.

 

As the artist himself commented about this subject: ‘The “Mother and child” idea is one of my two or three obsessions, one of my inexhaustible subjects. This may have something to do with the fact that the “Madonna and Child” was so important in the art of the past and that one loves the old masters and has learned so much from them. But the subject itself is eternal and unending, with so many sculptural possibilities in it – a small form in relation to a big form, the big form protecting the small one, and so on. It is such a rich subject, both humanly and compositionally, that I will always go on using it’ (H. Moore, quoted in Henry Moore: Skulpturen, Zeichnungen, Grafiken (exhibition catalogue), Galerie Ruf, Munich, 1983-84, n.p., note to no. 17).