With the figure’s broad hips and swelling breasts and abdomen, Moore gives this sculpture a strongly feminine character, full of ripe fertility. It holds a strong resemblance to the Willendorf Venus, an ancient limestone figurine Moore greatly admired that was carved around 23,000 BC. However, Moore drew on very varied visual sources of inspiration for his sculpture, both human and animal. He compared Three-Quarter Figure to a hippopotamus.
Gallery label, February 2010
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