Reclining Figure 1969–70

Reclining Figure 1969–70 (LH 608) is a bronze sculpture by English artist Henry Moore.

History

Inspired by the shape of a piece of flint, Moore created a maquette for the sculpture in plaster which was cast in an edition of small bronzes, some 15 centimetres (5.9 in) long. The maquette was used to create a full-size version in polystyrene, which was used to create a mould for a monumental sculpture.

The sculpture can be viewed as an abstraction of a reclining female human figure, resting on one arm, hip and two legs, with the second arm raised, and a prominence on the chest suggesting a breast. It has no evident face.

Six full-size copies were cast in 1969 and early 1970, at the Noack factory in Berlin, and an artist's copy was cast shortly before Moore's death in 1986. The sculpture measures 3 × 3.6 × 2 metres (9.8 × 11.8 × 6.6 ft) and weighs around 2 tonnes (2.2 tons). One cast was exhibited in a major retrospective of his work at the Forte di Belvedere in Florence in 1972, later described by Moore as the pinnacle of his career.

The artist's cast (0/6) was stolen from the Henry Moore Foundation at Perry Green, Hertfordshire on 15 December 2005. It is believed to have been hoisted onto the back of a stolen flatbed Mercedes lorry using a crane, cut up for scrap the same night, and shipped to Rotterdam, and then probably to the Far East. The sculpture was estimated to be worth £3m, but only £1,500 as scrap. The theft inspired German artist Fritz Balthaus in 2009 to cast bronze ingots of equivalent weight which, arranged in a form approximating Moore's sculpture, are displayed as Pure Moore at the Federal Criminal Police Office in Berlin.^[1]

Three of the six other casts are exhibited at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art at Humlebaek in Denmark, the Hakone Open-Air Museum in Japan, and the Lola Beer Ebner Sculpture Garden at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art in Israel.^[2] Three are in private collections, including one (cast 2/6) that was sold at Christie's in November 2013 for $6,101,000.^[3] There exists controversy as to whether one of the casts will be erected in front of Butler Library on the Columbia University campus.

See also

• Two-Piece Reclining Figure No. 9
• Two-Piece Reclining Figure: Points

References

1. ↑ de:Pure Moore
2. ↑ http://columbiaspectator.com/opinion/2016/03/31/letter-editor-more-henry-moore
3. ↑ Reclining Figure, Christie's, 5 November 2013

External links

• £3m Henry Moore sculpture stolen, BBC News, 17 December 2005
• Image, Henry Moor Foundation
• Mystery of the stolen Moore solved, The Observer, Sunday 17 May 2009
• Lost Art: Henry Moore, Tate Gallery, 6 August 2012
• Mystery of the stolen Moore solved, The Guardian, 17 May 2009
• Israel Public Art
• Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Henry Moore Foundation
• Hakone Open-Air Museum, Henry Moore Foundation
• Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Henry Moore Foundation
• Art theft: some of the famous art heists of the last 100 years, The Telegraph
• Celebrating Moore: Works from the Collection of the Henry Moore Foundation, p. 39-40
• Gallery of Lost Art

Henry Moore
Sculptures	Three Standing Figures 1947 Reclining Figure: Festival King and Queen Draped Reclining Figure, 1952–53 Large Interior Form, 1953-54 Upright Motive No. 1: Glenkiln Cross Seated Woman, 1957 Draped Seated Woman 1957–58 Draped Reclining Woman 1957–58 Knife Edge Two Piece 1962–65 Three-Piece Reclining Figure No. 2: Bridge Prop Man Enters the Cosmos Three-Way Piece: Points Two-Piece Reclining Figure No. 9 Nuclear Energy Spindle Piece Three-Piece No. 3: Vertebrae (Working Model) Three Piece Sculpture: Vertebrae Reclining Figure 1969–70 Two-Piece Reclining Figure: Points Sheep Piece 1971–72 Large Four Piece Reclining Figure 1972–73 Hill Arches 1973 Goslar Warrior 1973–1974 Three-Piece Reclining Figure: Draped 1975 The Arch 1979–1980
Assistants	Anthony Caro Phillip King Richard Wentworth Isaac Witkin
Associated with	Barbara Hepworth
Supporters	Kenneth Clark
Institutions	Henry Moore Foundation