Henry Spencer Moore (1898–1986) was a British sculptor and modernist artist who left an indelible mark on 20th-century sculpture with his captivating bronze and stone figures, exquisitely shaped in abstract, organic forms. Much of his work is monumental, and he was particularly well-known for a series of reclining nudes.
Born in Castleford, Yorkshire, Moore attended the Leeds School of Art and later the Royal College of Art in London, where he taught sculpture (1924–31;) later, he taught at the Chelsea School of Art (1931–39.) He traveled in France, Italy, Spain, USA, and Greece and was an official war artist (1940–42.) During this time, he produced a famous series of drawings of air-raid shelter scenes. In 1948, he won the International Sculpture Prize at the Venice Biennale.
Throughout his career, Moore developed a distinctive style characterized by using organic, curvilinear forms. He produced figures and groups in a semi-abstract style based on the organic forms and undulating rhythms found in landscape and natural rocks, influenced by primitive African and Mexican art. He was particularly known for monumental bronze sculptures that grace public spaces, such as Madonna and Child in St Matthew’s Church, Northampton (1943–44,) the decorative frieze (1952) on the Time-Life building in London, and the massive reclining figures for the UNESCO building in Paris (1958) and the Lincoln Center in New York (1965.)
Roger Berthoud wrote the biography The Life of Henry Moore (1987.) Moore’s profound impact on the art world is well-documented in catalogs such as David Sylvester and Alan Bowness’s Henry Moore: Complete Sculpture (6 vols., 1944–88;) Gérald Cramer, Alistair Grant, and David Mitchinson’s Henry Moore: Catalogue of Graphic Work (4 vols., 1973–86.)
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I’m very grateful that I was too poor to get to art school until I was 21 … I was old enough when I got there to know how to get something out of it.
—Henry Moore
Topics: Difficulties, Adversity
What’s important is finding out what works for you.
—Henry Moore
Topics: Appropriateness, Aptness
One never knows what each day is going to bring. The important thing is to be open and ready for it.
—Henry Moore
The creative habit is like a drug. The particular obsession changes, but the excitement, the thrill of your creation lasts.
—Henry Moore
I think, what has this day brought me, and what have I given it?
—Henry Moore
Topics: Attitude
There is nothing greater than enthusiasm.
—Henry Moore
Topics: Enthusiasm, Passion
The important thing is somehow to begin.
—Henry Moore
Topics: Inaction, Procrastination, Getting Going
The observation of nature is part of an artist’s life, it enlarges his form [and] knowledge, keeps him fresh and from working only by formula, and feeds inspiration.
—Henry Moore
Topics: Observation, Inspiration
You must always be open to your luck. You cannot force it, but you can recognize it.
—Henry Moore
Topics: Luck, Fortune
The secret of life is to have a task, something you devote your entire life to, something you bring everything to, every minute of the day for the rest of your life. And the most important thing is, it must be something you cannot possibly do.
—Henry Moore
Topics: Possibilities, Living
I think in terms of the day’s resolutions, not the years’.
—Henry Moore
Topics: Perspective
I find in all the artists that I admire most a disturbing element, a distortion, giving evidence of a struggle… In great art, this conflict is hidden, it is unresolved. All that is bursting with energy is disturbing—not perfect.
—Henry Moore
Topics: Perfectionism
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