亨利·摩爾

Conceived in 1982 and executed in an edition of nine.

私人收藏
佩斯·維登斯坦畫廊，紐約
現藏家1999年6月3日購自上述畫廊

赫爾辛基，迪德里克森藝術博物館，〈亨利·摩爾紀念展〉，1987年1月-3月，頁碼不詳

紐約，詹姆斯·古德曼畫廊，〈亨利·摩爾：百年紀念展〉，1998年10月-11月，頁碼不詳，品號25，載彩圖（名為《「母親與膝上的孩子」習作》）

紐海文，耶魯大學英國藝術中心，〈亨利·摩爾與英雄：百年致敬〉，1999年1月-3月，頁碼不詳，品號26，載彩圖（名為《「母親與膝上的孩子」習作》）

阿倫·鮑內斯（編），《亨利·摩爾：雕塑全集1980-1986年》，第6冊，倫敦，1988年，51頁，品號870，圖版97-99載另一鑄造版本圖

展覽圖錄，瑞士貝林佐納大城堡，意大利拿坡里新堡，《亨利·摩爾：最後十年》，1995年，96頁，品號35，載另一鑄造版本圖

阿倫·鮑內斯（編），《亨利·摩爾：雕塑全集1980-1986年》，第6冊，倫敦，1999年，53頁，品號870，圖版108-110載另一鑄造版本圖

The theme of maternity was a central motif in Moore's art. Figures of mothers with their babies appear throughout his career, usually at times in his life when parenthood was particularly on his mind. Moore was a new grandfather and nearing the end of his life when he created the present work, and his own experiences with his grandchild inspired several sculptures devoted to this theme. In the present work, Moore renders the seated mother cradling her baby, and her block form and pyramidal pose call to mind iconic Renaissance images of the Madonna. Although the figures are dramatically abstracted, Moore invests the sculpture with warmth and tenderness. Writing about the attractions of this subject matter for Henry Moore, Anne Garrould has stated: “The mother-and-child theme is concerned with a subject which was not only very close to Moore’s heart but also with the contours and shapes in which Moore delighted—the swelling breast, the rounded thigh, the arched back, the curving, cradling arm.” (Exh. cat., Hempsted, New York, Hofstra University Museum (& travelling), Mother and Child: The Art of Henry Moore, 1987-88, p. 22)

It was not just the form which attracted Moore towards this theme. The sculptor’s function – creating an artwork from a block of stone, a plaster, a bronze cast – draws parallels to the process of gestation, birth and nurture. “The theme of the mother and child, not only refers to the paternal relationships but is about fertility, maternity, and growth—universal ideas. It evokes images of the egg, the womb, and the uncarved stone…. The mother and child motif goes beyond the images to a primal motif based on the theme of life and birth, for Moore it means creativity. The art is reminiscent of some of the earliest primitive images due to its conceptual base. Moore’s work is an attempt to get at the essential nature and to shape it from within.” (G. Gelburd in ibid., p. 39)

Other casts of this work are included in the collections of the Henry Moore Foundation and the Hakone Open-Air Museum.