Description:
long rectangular with cut out geometric forms and greenish patina on wood base
Label Text:
Henry Moore was already a well-known sculptor of abstract figures when he was commissioned to create a sculptural screen to conceal a terrace of the newly designed Time-Life Building on New Bond Street in London.
Moore drew inspiration for the four shapes from old bones and weatherworn stones that he had collected. As he explained, "I rejected the idea of a portrayal of some pictorial scene, for that would only be like hanging up a stone picture." Addressing the sculpture's function within an architectural setting, he said, "The fact that it is only a screen with space behind it, led me to carve it with a back as well as a front, and to pierce it, which gives an interesting penetration of light." He also wanted to mount the four shapes so they could be rotated on their axes at intervals but that proved impractical.
The museum's sculpture is one of four models Moore created for the commission. The completed, full-size sculpture in London was based on this particular maquette.
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abstract Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=SC+1953.114 |
