Head of a Girl and Reclining Figure
Head of a Girl and Reclining Figure, 1979, Etching
Henry Moore (British, 1898 – 1986)
#1999.0011.0007
Henry Moore was born in 1898 in Castleford, Yorkshire, to a family of miners. He initially trained to become a teacher before enlisting for the First World War. After the war, Moore began his career in art as a student at the Leeds School of Art. He went on to study at the Royal Academy of Art and saw early success with numerous exhibitions and commissions. As Moore began to gain renown as a leading British avant garde artist, his career path was seemingly interrupted by the start of World War II. His role as official war artist led him to create drawings of Londoners sheltering from the Blitz, which are now some of his most iconic works.
Today, Moore is known for his drawings and monumental bronze sculptures, which can be found in parks and plazas around the world. Throughout his career, Moore’s drawings and sculptures almost exclusively took the form of abstractions of the human body. This piece, Head of a Girl and Reclining Figure (1979), demonstrates Moore’s affinity for the reclining female form.
