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Lot Essay
Moore and his wife Irina moved to Burcroft, Kent, in 1935, and this location provided a stimulating environment for Moore's work: 'We go to Burcroft whenever we can be free of London because I work better there' (Moore, letter to Arthur Sale, 30 April 1939, Imperial War Museum Archive, IWM/ART/16597/1). It was there that Moore began experimenting with lead, using Irina's saucepans to melt the lead, and casting at least sixteen small maquettes in the material between 1938 and 1940.
Moore created his first reclining figure in 1924, and it would continue to be one of the central themes throughout his work. Conceived in 1939, Reclining figure: Blanket demonstrates Moore's approach to the human form at this time: the forms of the figure have been abstracted to become organic and fluid, recalling Arp's explorations into plastic form. Furthermore, the contours of the figure are described by its painted and polished surface, evoking the weathered surface of pebbles or stones found on the beach.
Reclining figure: Blanket also appears to pre-empt the imagery of the sleeping bodies that Moore recorded in his war-time shelter drawings in the London Underground. When taking refuge from an air raid in Belsize Park station in 1940, Moore made his first shelter drawing; on seeing this Kenneth Clark commissioned further drawings, appointing Moore as an Official War Artist. These drawings were the first that Moore made as works for their own sake, not merely as preparatory sketches for sculptures. However, the figures continued to have a sculptural quality, and this is demonstrated by the sleeping figures seen in Shelter Scene: Bunks and Sleepers, 1941 (Tate Gallery, London), which echo the draped figure seen in Reclining figure: Blanket.
The lead sculpture Reclining figure was cast in an edition of three bronzes circa 1945 by Art Bronze Foundry, and in an edition of 8+1 by Susse Fondeur in 1959. The work appears to relate to a drawing of the same date, Studies for Sculpture: Reclining Figures, (AG 39-40.16) which depicts a reclining figure in the lower right corner, similarly draped with a blanket.
Moore created his first reclining figure in 1924, and it would continue to be one of the central themes throughout his work. Conceived in 1939, Reclining figure: Blanket demonstrates Moore's approach to the human form at this time: the forms of the figure have been abstracted to become organic and fluid, recalling Arp's explorations into plastic form. Furthermore, the contours of the figure are described by its painted and polished surface, evoking the weathered surface of pebbles or stones found on the beach.
Reclining figure: Blanket also appears to pre-empt the imagery of the sleeping bodies that Moore recorded in his war-time shelter drawings in the London Underground. When taking refuge from an air raid in Belsize Park station in 1940, Moore made his first shelter drawing; on seeing this Kenneth Clark commissioned further drawings, appointing Moore as an Official War Artist. These drawings were the first that Moore made as works for their own sake, not merely as preparatory sketches for sculptures. However, the figures continued to have a sculptural quality, and this is demonstrated by the sleeping figures seen in Shelter Scene: Bunks and Sleepers, 1941 (Tate Gallery, London), which echo the draped figure seen in Reclining figure: Blanket.
The lead sculpture Reclining figure was cast in an edition of three bronzes circa 1945 by Art Bronze Foundry, and in an edition of 8+1 by Susse Fondeur in 1959. The work appears to relate to a drawing of the same date, Studies for Sculpture: Reclining Figures, (AG 39-40.16) which depicts a reclining figure in the lower right corner, similarly draped with a blanket.