Henry Moore:”Henry Moore – Large Divided Oval: Butterfly’, (1985-86). Situated in front of “Haus der Kulturen der Welt”, Tiergarten, Berlin, since 1987, the year of Berlin’s 750-year anniversary celebration.

About this Artwork

This is the last artwork by Henry Moore. The play of light and reflective water makes the sculpture appear as if it is opening upwards and expanding beyond the borders of its form. It plays with the impression of being a pair of wings, thus awakening most intriguingly the image of a butterfly coming to life. A lot of what Moore did has a sensual curved, almost feminine feel. This is not just because he made so many sculptures of mothers and infants, nor because (as he admitted) he had a bit of a mother fixation. It is as much in his play of insides and outsides, in the flow of forms and space. There is also something inescapably phallic about many of Moore’s women, and in the male and female dualities even of his ­abstract forms. Moore never read Freud, though throughout the 1920s and 30s the discoveries of psychoanalysis were very much in the air. “Everything I do, I intend to make on a large scale . . . Size itself has its own impact, and physically we can relate ourselves more strongly to a big sculpture than to a small one.” — Henry Moore. It was Moore’s intention that these large-scale forms be interacted with, viewed close-up, and even touched. In order that their heft and mass be perceived in a myriad of settings, they were most commonly placed outdoors, subject to the effects of changing light, seasons, and terrain. Within the controlled white environment of the gallery space, the sheer volume and mammoth proportions of the sculptures are more keenly felt. Brimming with latent energy, their richly textured surfaces and sensual, rippling arcs and concavities can be seen to new effect.

About Henry Moore

Henry Moore (1898–1986), known as the “Picasso of Sculpture,” is regarded as one of the most important sculptors of the twentieth century and the epitome of the modern artist. He influenced the history of twentieth-century sculpture more decisively than anyone else and was one of the first contemporary sculptors to install his work in public spaces throughout the world. His oeuvre has been a lasting source of inspiration for generations of artists, from Hans Arp and Alberto Giacometti to today’s younger generation of sculptors. Moore is arguably one of the most famous and beloved sculptors of the twentieth century, yet in recent decades his work has fallen out of favour in the world of contemporary art criticism. Looking at Moore’s early engagements with primitivism, his 1930s dialogue with abstraction and surrealism, and his postwar interest in large-scale public sculpture, define some of the most significant aspects of modernism. Moore’s emphasis on direct carving instead of modeling and the necessary balance between abstraction and what he called the “psychological human element, was essential for the twentieth century art development. His work was revolutionary in its use of voids, openings, and holes that heighten the sculptural, three-dimensional effect of his pieces.

Henry Moore: ‘Seated Figure’, 1973, Lithograph in colours on T. H. Saunders paper, signed in pencil and numbered, edition of 75, size: Image: 34 x 28 cm, sheet: 64.5 x 55 cm. Reference: Cramer 292, Printed by: Curwen Prints Ltd, London. Price upon request.

Henry Moore - Six Reclining Figures, 1973, Lithograph in colours on T H Saunders, Signed and dated in pencil and numbered (Edition 100) Image: 31.7 x 38 cm Sheet: 52 x 67.3 cmHenry Moore: ‘Six Reclining Figures’, 1973, Lithograph in colours on T.H. Saunders paper, signed and dated in pencil, numbered, edition of 100, size: image: 31.7 x 38 cm, sheet: 52 x 67.3 cm, Reference: Cramer 298. Published by: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles. Price upon request.

Henry Moore - Two Reclining Figures with River Background, 1963, Lithograph in colours on Oriental paper, Signed and numbered in pencil (Edition 50) Image: 30.5 x 62.9 cm

Henry Moore: ‘Two Reclining Figures with River Background’, 1963, Lithograph in colours on Oriental paper, signed and numbered in pencil edition of 50, size: 30.5 x 62.9 cm. Reference: Cramer 52, published by Gérald Cramer.Price upon request.

Henry Moore: "Sculptural Objects", 1949, Original-Lithografie, signiert in der Platte, lim. Auflage 3000 Exemplare, Format: 49.5 x 76 cm, Publisher: School Prints, Printer: W.S. Cowell.

Henry Moore: ‘Sculptural Objects’, 1949, Lithograph printed in six colours on English cartridge paper, signed and dated in the plate
size: 49.5 x 76.2 cm; 191/2x 30″. Reference:Cramer 7. The full sheet in very good condition. Price upon request.

Henry Moore: Reclining Figure, 1975, Lithograph on Arches Wove Paper, hand numbered in pencil, from the edition of 575 at the lower left margin, edition of 575 produced for the book ‘Hommage à San Lazzaro’, there was also a deluxe edition of 75 signed and numbered impressions. It was printed by Curwen Prints, London and published by Société Internationale d’Art XX Siècle, Paris in 1975. Paper size: 28.6 x 38.4 cm. / 11.3 x 15.1 in. Image size: 21.3 x 28.3 cm. / 8.4 x 11.1 in. Literature: Cramer, G., Grant, A., & Mitchinson, D. (1973). Henry Moore: Catalogue of the Graphic Work 1931-1972. Geneva: Gérald Cramer Éditeur Reference: Cramer 366

Henry Moore: Reclining Figure, 1975, Lithograph on Arches Wove paper with deckle edges, printed in London in 1975 by Curwen Studio, hand numbered in pencil, from the edition of 575 numbered at the lower left margin, produced for the book ‘Hommage à San Lazzaro’, there was also a deluxe edition of 75 signed and numbered impressions. It was printed by Curwen Prints, London and published by Société Internationale d’Art XX Siècle, Paris in 1975. Paper size: 28.6 x 38.4 cm. / 11.3 x 15.1 in. Image size: 21.3 x 28.3 cm. / 8.4 x 11.1 in. Literature: Cramer, G., Grant, A., & Mitchinson, D. (1973). Henry Moore: Catalogue of the Graphic Work 1931-1972. Geneva: Gérald Cramer Éditeur Reference: Cramer 366.Price upon request.

Henry Moore - Eight Sculptural Ideas, 1973Henry Moore – Eight Sculptural Ideas, 1973, Lithograph in colours on Velin, signed, numbered, edition of 65 + XXXV – roman numbered, picture size: 39 x 49,3, sheet: 53,5 x 75,5 cm. from the portolio ‘European Graphic’ IX, Verlag Galerie Ketterer, München, 1974. Cramer 280.Price upon request.

Henry Moore - Ideas for Sculptures, 1975, Farblithographie auf Velin

Henry Moore– Ideas for Sculptures, 1975, Lithograph in colours, Printer’s Proof beside the edition of 100 + 20 AP’s, stamped: Sample Copy on the front right, printed by Curwen Studio, London, in 1975, size: 56.5 x 77.4 cm / 22.2 x 30.5 in. Published by International Exhibitions Foundation, Washington DC. Literature: Henry Moore: Catalogue of the Graphic Work 1976-1979, by Gerald Cramer and Alistair Grant, David Mitchinson, Geneva, 1979. Reference: Cramer 365. Price upon request.

Henry Moore - Original lithograph, issued in 1977 for XXe Siecle, published in Paris by San Lazzaro. Sheet size 9 1/4 x 12 1/4 inches; 240 x 310 mm

Henry Moore– No title -, 1977, Original Lithograph for the Art Revue ‘XXe Siecle’, Publisher San Lazzaro, Paris, size: 24 x 31 cm, not signed.Price upon request.

Henry Moore: Two heads, 1973, Original Lithograph in 3 colors on Arches, signed with the artist’s monogram in pencil, extracted from the book “La Poésie”,Art et poésie Ed., Paris, edition of 45 copies on Arches (There are also 45 copies on Japanese paper), unnumbered, picture size: 19 x 11,4 cm, sheet: 38 x 47 cm, Ref. Cramer n°318.Price upon request.

Henry Moore: Group of figures, 1974, Original lithograph on Rives paper, signed in pencil by the artist, editon of 65 + XXXV signed proofs, picture size: 22,8 x 33 cm, sheet: 45,2 x 56 cm, Reference Cramer Vol. II n° 341

Henry Moore: Group of figures, 1974, Original lithograph on Rives paper, signed in pencil by the artist, editon of 65 + XXXV signed proofs, picture size: 22,8 x 33 cm, sheet: 45,2 x 56 cm, Reference Cramer Vol. II n° 341.Price upon request.

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Literature:

Henry Moore: A European Impulse Hardcover – April 15, 2017 by Hermann Arnhold (Editor), Westphalian State Museum of Art and Cultural History (Editor) – – Henry Moore: Sculpting the Twentieth Century Hardcover – April, 2001 by Dorothy Kosinski (Editor)

Film:

Henry Moore – A Documentation by the BBC – click here!