UNESCO Reclining Figure 1957–58
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''UNESCO Reclining Figure 1957–58'' is a sculpture by Henry Moore. It was made in a series of scales, from a small plaster
maquette A ''maquette'' (French word for scale model, sometimes referred to by the Italian names ''plastico'' or ''modello'') is a scale model or rough draft of an unfinished sculpture. An equivalent term is ''bozzetto'', from the Italian word for "sketc ...
, through a half-size working model made in plaster and cast in bronze (LH 415), to a full-size version carved in Roman
travertine Travertine ( ) is a form of terrestrial limestone deposited around mineral springs, especially hot springs. It often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan, cream-colored, and even rusty varieties. It is formed by a p ...
marble in 1957–1958 (LH 416). The final work was installed in 1958 at the
World Heritage Centre UNESCO Headquarters, or Maison de l'UNESCO, is a building inaugurated on 3 November 1958 at number 7 Place de Fontenoy in Paris, France, to serve as the headquarters for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) ...
, the headquarters of
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
(the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) at the Place de Fontenoy in Paris. This was Moore's last major public commission in which he created a new work for a specific site; he afterwards generally worked from an existing sketch or model.


Background

Moore was commissioned in 1955 to create a sculpture for the piazza in front of UNESCO's new headquarters in Paris, designed by the architect
Marcel Breuer Marcel Lajos Breuer ( ; 21 May 1902 – 1 July 1981), was a Hungarian-born modernist architect and furniture designer. At the Bauhaus he designed the Wassily Chair and the Cesca Chair, which ''The New York Times'' have called some of the most i ...
. Early ideas included groups of standing or seated figures, such as '' Draped Reclining Woman 1957–58'' and '' Draped Seated Woman 1957–58'', but he settled on a single and more abstract reclining figure for the UNESCO commission. Some of his early drawings are held by the
British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
.


Description

Moore took several maquettes to Paris in February 1957 for UNESCO representatives to select the best one. The selected sculpture depicts the abstracted form of a reclining female human figure, with recognisable arms, torso, and legs, and a disproportionately small head, with hollows representing eyes. Parallels can be drawn with his early stone '' Reclining Figure 1929'' and his elmwood '' Reclining Figure 1935–6''. Moore made the suggestion that the final work should be carved in white stone, to contrast with the dark windows of the building behind, rather than casting it in bronze as originally intended.


Working model

Moore completed a half-size working plaster model in August 1957, which measures . This model was made by applying layers of plaster to an armature, the surface of which was then worked with chisels and other tools. The plaster working model is held by the
Art Gallery of Ontario The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO; french: Musée des beaux-arts de l'Ontario) is an art museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The museum is located in the Grange Park neighbourhood of downtown Toronto, on Dundas Street West between McCaul and Bev ...
. The working model (LH 415) was cast in bronze in edition of 7 (5 plus and artists copy, plus one extra cast made for the Tate Gallery), in 1959–1961: three at the Corinthian Art Bronze Foundry in London, two at in Paris, and two at the
Hermann Noack Hermann Noack, or Noack Foundry (German: ''Bildgießerei Hermann Noack GmbH & Co.''), is a German art foundry in Berlin, named after its original proprietor and his three direct descendants, all with the same name, who have run the business. ...
foundry in Berlin. One example of the bronze is held by the Tate Gallery (cast 2/5). Other examples are held in the collections of the
Carnegie Museum of Art The Carnegie Museum of Art, is an art museum in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Originally known as the Department of Fine Arts, Carnegie Institute and was at what is now the Main Branch of the Carnegie Library of Pittsbur ...
in Pittsburgh, the
Chicago Art Institute The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...
, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam (cast 4/5), and the
Kunsthaus Zürich The Kunsthaus Zürich is in terms of area the biggest art museum of Switzerland and houses one of the most important art collections in Switzerland, assembled over the years by the local art association called '. The collection spans from the Midd ...
(cast 5/5).


Full-size sculpture

The completed plaster working model was sent to the Société S. Henraux quarry at , near
Seravezza Seravezza is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Lucca, in northern Tuscany, Italy. It is located in Versilia, close to the Apuan Alps. Neighboring municipalities *Forte dei Marmi * Massa *Montignoso *Pietrasanta * Stazzema Patron saints S ...
and close to
Carrara Carrara ( , ; , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, in central Italy, of the province of Massa and Carrara, and notable for the white or blue-grey marble quarried there. It is on the Carrione River, some west-northwest of Florence. Its mot ...
in northern Italy, in September 1957, where it was copied as a full-size version using four large blocks of Roman travertine marble. Moore visited frequently to check on how the work was progressing, and to finish parts roughed out by the Italian workmen. He took his wife Irina and daughter Mary on one trip, and instituted a tradition of taking regular summer holidays in the area, later buying his own cottage. The final sculpture (LH 416) was finished in mid-1958, over long and high, and weighing 38 tons, making it one of Moore's largest sculptures. It was installed near the new Y-shaped UNESCO building at the Place de Fontenoy in Paris in October 1958, and it was in place when the building was inaugurated the following month. The sculpture was moved in 1963, when UNESCO extended its offices, and it is now sited near Building IV.


See also

* List of sculptures by Henry Moore


References


Moore, Henry (1898–1986), Reclining Figure
UNESCO works of art collection

UNESCO
The Henry Moore Sculpture Centre
, Art Gallery of Ontario
UNESCO Reclining Figure, LH 416
Henry Moore Foundation
Working Model for UNESCO Reclining Figure, LH 415 cast 4
Henry Moore Foundation
Working Model for UNESCO Reclining Figure, LH 415 cast 0
Henry Moore Foundation
Maquette for UNESCO Reclining Figure, 1957
Art Institute Chicago
Henry Moore, Working Model for UNESCO Reclining Figure 1957, cast c. 1959–61
Tate Gallery
Working Model for UNESCO Reclining Figure
Tate Gallery
Henry Moore – Writings and Conversations
pp. 71–72, 286–87 {{DEFAULTSORT:UNESCO Reclining Figure 1957-58 1958 sculptures Outdoor sculptures in Paris Sculptures by Henry Moore Sculptures of women Stone sculptures in France UNESCO