Modern & Contemporary Sale
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To be sold at Uppsala Auktionskammare’s Important Sale: Modern & Contemporary 9 – 10 November 2022
Lot 494 Henry Moore (England 1898-1986). ”Small Seated Figure”. Patinated bronze, Height 13.5 cm (Height 17 cm including wooden base).
Conceived in terracotta in 1936 and cast in bronze in 1957 in an edition of 7 plus 1 artist’s proof.
This work is recorded in the archives of the Henry Moore Foundation.
150.000 – 200.000 SEK
€ 14.000 – 18.000
An important Swedish private collection.
W. Grohmann, The Art of Henry Moore, London, 1960, p. 9, no. 185 (another cast illustrated).
Alan Bowness, Henry Moore Complete Sculpture 1980-86, London, 1999, vol. VI, no. 170b, illustration of another cast p. 27.
Henry Moore was one of the greatest and most famous 20th century sculptors. He is best known for his semi-abstract monumental sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art. He was influenced by European modernism and developed an abstract sculptural language. Moore’s forms are usually abstractions of the human figure, typically depicting mother-and-child, reclining or seated figures. His sculptures are generally pierced or contain hollow spaces and often refer to organic forms such as conches and bones.
Early in his career, Moore worked primarily in stone and often formulated his ideas two-dimensionally via preparatory drawings. By the time that the present sculpture was conceived he gradually transitioned from direct carving to casting in bronze by modelling preliminary maquettes in clay or plaster rather than making preparatory drawings.
According to the artist, observing his sculptures is ”like going on a journey, each time you return you see something different, something new. Sculpture doesn’t have just a front view and a back view – there are countless in-between views which are just as important and just as impressive”. ■