Sixty Works by Modern Masters - Flipbook - Page 99
Henry Moore
Henry Moore
British, 1898 - 1986
Working Model for Standing Figure: Knife Edge, 1961
Bronze with green patina
H: 64 inches / 162.5 cm
Conceived and cast in 1961
Inscribed at the base of the figure: Moore 3/7
This work is number 3 of an edition of 7+ 1 cast by Fiorini, London,
including:
Opera House, Frankfurt am Main
Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, DC
Moore’s maquette for the present
work combines a bird’s bone with
modelling clay to form the head and
face of the sculpture. The original
materials involved in the conception
of the final piece remained central
to its appearance, with Moore
commenting that ‘there are many
structural and sculptural principles
to be learnt from bones [...] Some
bones, such as the breast bones of
birds, have the lightweight fineness
of a knife-blade.’
It has been suggested that Moore
developed Working Model for
Standing Figure in response to
Edward Sackville-West’s epic poem,
The Rescue, in which the protagonist
is described as displaying ‘something
of a mysterious timelessness, the
knife edge balance between being
and not being, which only the poetic
imagination seems able to achieve.’
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This work was acquired by Peter
Barker-Mill in 1962, and remained
in his family’s collection for almost
fifty years.
Provenance
Hanover Gallery, London
Acquired by Peter Barker-Mill, June 1962
Thence by descent
Exhibited
London, Royal Academy of Arts, Henry Moore, September-December 1988,
no. 179, illustrated in colour p.109; illustrated again p. 260 (another cast)
Literature
Alan Bowness, Henry Moore: Sculpture 1953–1964, Volume III, London
Lund Humphries, 1965, No 481, illustrated page 30 (illustrated page 48 in
the 1986 edition)
This sculpture is accompanied by a letter
of authenticity & other observations kindly
issued by the Henry Moore Foundation
"Art is not to do with the practical
side of making a living. It's to live
a fuller human life."