Henry Moore OM, CH

1898–1986

Henry Moore OM, CH, ‘Recumbent Figure’ 1938
Recumbent Figure 1938
© The Henry Moore Foundation. All Rights Reserved
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In Tate Britain

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In Tate St Ives

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Biography

Henry Spencer Moore (30 July 1898 – 31 August 1986) was an English artist. He is best known for his semi-abstract monumental bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art. As well as sculpture, Moore produced many drawings, including a series depicting Londoners sheltering from the Blitz during the Second World War, along with other graphic works on paper.

His forms are usually abstractions of the human figure, typically depicting mother-and-child or reclining figures. Moore's works are usually suggestive of the female body, apart from a phase in the 1950s when he sculpted family groups. His forms are generally pierced or contain hollow spaces. Many interpreters liken the undulating form of his reclining figures to the landscape and hills of his birthplace, Yorkshire.

Moore was born in Castleford, the son of a coal miner. He became well-known through his carved marble and larger-scale abstract cast bronze sculptures, and was instrumental in introducing a particular form of modernism to the United Kingdom. His ability in later life to fulfil large-scale commissions made him exceptionally wealthy. Despite this, he lived frugally; most of the money he earned went towards endowing the Henry Moore Foundation, which continues to support education and promotion of the arts.

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Artists’ International Association Biomorphism British Surrealism 13 more art terms …

Artworks

Henry Moore OM, CH, ‘Recumbent Figure’ 1938

Henry Moore OM, CH Recumbent Figure

1938
On display at Tate Britain part of Spotlights N05387
Henry Moore OM, CH, ‘Family Group’ 1949, cast 1950–1

Henry Moore OM, CH Family Group

1949, cast 1950–1
On display at Tate Britain part of Spotlights N06004
Henry Moore OM, CH, ‘Reclining Figure’ 1951

Henry Moore OM, CH Reclining Figure

1951
On display at Tate Britain part of Spotlights T02270
Henry Moore OM, CH, ‘Grey Tube Shelter’ 1940

Henry Moore OM, CH Grey Tube Shelter

1940
N05706
Henry Moore OM, CH, ‘Tube Shelter Perspective’ 1941

Henry Moore OM, CH Tube Shelter Perspective

1941
N05709
Henry Moore OM, CH, ‘The Artist’s Hand I’ 1979

Henry Moore OM, CH The Artist’s Hand I

1979
View by appointment P02907
Henry Moore OM, CH, ‘King and Queen’ 1952–3, cast 1957

Henry Moore OM, CH King and Queen

1952–3, cast 1957
On display at Tate Britain part of Spotlights T00228
Henry Moore OM, CH, ‘The Artist’s Hand V’ 1979

Henry Moore OM, CH The Artist’s Hand V

1979
View by appointment P02911
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Artist as subject

Henry Moore OM, CH, ‘The Artist’s Hand I’ 1979

Henry Moore OM, CH The Artist’s Hand I

1979
View by appointment P02907
Henry Moore OM, CH, ‘The Artist’s Hand V’ 1979

Henry Moore OM, CH The Artist’s Hand V

1979
View by appointment P02911
Henry Moore OM, CH, ‘The Artist’s Hand III’ 1979

Henry Moore OM, CH The Artist’s Hand III

1979
P02909
Henry Moore OM, CH, ‘The Artist’s Hand IV’ 1979

Henry Moore OM, CH The Artist’s Hand IV

1979
View by appointment P02910
Henry Moore OM, CH, ‘The Artist’s Hand II’ 1979

Henry Moore OM, CH The Artist’s Hand II

1979
View by appointment P02908
Paul Nash, ‘Black and white negative, ‘Marsh Personage’’ 1934

Paul Nash Black and white negative, ‘Marsh Personage’

1934
TGA 7050PH/762
Dame Barbara Hepworth, ‘Volume of sculpture records’ 1953

Dame Barbara Hepworth Volume of sculpture records

1953
TGA 7247/23
Henry Moore OM, CH, recipients: Ben Nicholson OM, Dame Barbara Hepworth, ‘Postcard from Henry Moore to Ben Nicholson and Barbara Hepworth’ 12 August 1936

Henry Moore OM, CH, recipients: Ben Nicholson OM, Dame Barbara Hepworth Postcard from Henry Moore to Ben Nicholson and Barbara Hepworth

12 August 1936
TGA 8717/1/2/3022
Kenneth Armitage, recipient: Joan Augusta Monro Moore, ‘Letter from Kenneth Armitage to Joan Moore, addressed Catterick Camp, Yorkshire’ [1941]

Kenneth Armitage, recipient: Joan Augusta Monro Moore Letter from Kenneth Armitage to Joan Moore, addressed Catterick Camp, Yorkshire

[1941]
View by appointment TGA 9920/2/65
See all 58

Film and audio

Poet Cecilia Knapp responds to Henry Moore’s Mask
Watch

Poet Cecilia Knapp responds to Henry Moore’s Mask

To celebrate this year’s National Poetry Day, poet and performer, Cecilia Knapp responds with an original piece to Henry ...

Meet 500 years of British Art - Room: Henry Moore
Watch

Meet 500 years of British Art - Room: Henry Moore

Chris Stephens explores the work of Henry Moore, the first permanent display of his work in London

Listen

His Darkened Imagination: Surrealist Moore

His Darkened Imagination: Surrealist Moore; Tate past event audio recording
Listen

Henry Moore on Film – Part 1

This study day explores different approaches to filming Henry Moore and his work, with rare screenings and contributions from art ...
Listen

Henry Moore: Curator's Talk

Chris Stephens, curator of the Henry Moore exhibition, discusses Moore's work in the context of twentieth-century history.

Features
Tate Etc

Details, Details: Henry Moore's The Pantaloon 1982

Robert McCrum

The potential richness at the end of life

Henry Moore OM, CH, ‘Recumbent Figure’ 1938
Look Closer

Henry Moore's sculptures

Where did Henry Moore get his ideas and inspiration for his sculptures?

Constantin Brancusi, ‘Head’ c.1919–23
Art Term

Direct carving

Direct carving is an approach to making carved sculpture where the actual process of carving suggests the final form rather ...

Henry Moore OM, CH, ‘Recumbent Figure’ 1938
Art Term

Form

In relation to art the term form has two meanings: it can refer to the overall form taken by the ...

Lynn Chadwick, ‘The Fisheater’ 1951
Art Term

Geometry of Fear

Geometry of Fear was a term coined by the critic Herbert Read in 1952 to describe the work of a ...

Ben Nicholson OM, ‘1924 (first abstract painting, Chelsea)’ c.1923–4
Art Term

The Seven and Five Society

Formed in London in 1919 The Seven and Five Society was initially a traditional group and can be seen as ...

Bob and Roberta Smith, ‘Make Art Not War’ 1997
Art Term

War artists

War artists are artists who are commissioned through an official scheme to record the events of war

Henry Moore, Reclining Figure 1969–70
Read

Lost Art: Henry Moore

Jennifer Mundy

The Gallery of Lost Art is an immersive, online exhibition that tells the fascinating stories of artworks that have disappeared ...

Photograph showing Henry Moore with his sculpture Reclining Figure and Mask
Tate Papers

Tate Papers no.15: Spring 2011

Read about the work of Carsten Höller, Henry Moore and David Musgrave in this issue, along with articles about the ...

Photograph showing Henry Moore with his sculpture Reclining Figure and Mask
Tate Papers

Scale in Sculpture: The Sixties and Henry Moore: Rothenstein Lecture

Anne Wagner

How do size and scale matter to the sculpture of Henry Moore? This paper offers a preliminary investigation of this ...

Sketches, letters, etc.

Henry Moore OM, CH, recipients: Ben Nicholson OM, Dame Barbara Hepworth, ‘Postcard from Henry Moore to Ben Nicholson and Barbara Hepworth’ 12 August 1936

Henry Moore OM, CH, recipients: Ben Nicholson OM, Dame Barbara Hepworth Postcard from Henry Moore to Ben Nicholson and Barbara Hepworth

12 August 1936
TGA 8717/1/2/3022
Henry Moore OM, CH, recipient: Ben Nicholson OM, ‘Letter from Henry Moore to Ben Nicholson’ 27 July 1962

Henry Moore OM, CH, recipient: Ben Nicholson OM Letter from Henry Moore to Ben Nicholson

27 July 1962
TGA 8717/1/2/3027
See all 139

Related art terms

Artists’ International Association Biomorphism British Surrealism British War Art Constructivism Cubism Direct carving Kinetic art London Artists’ Association London Group National Society Neo-romanticism Seven and Five Society St Ives School Surrealism Unit One

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