The natural undulations of this reclining figure reveal the lasting influence of organic abstraction on the work of Henry Moore following his meeting with Jean Arp in the 1930s. Travelling frequently to Paris throughout the 1920s and 30s, Moore’s work adopted the swelling forms and vegetal growths of Arp’s work, as well as that of the Surrealists.

Moore’s understanding of the rich multiplicity of natural forms was often inspired by the interpretation of objects such as pebbles, shells, driftwood and bones, which lined the walls of his studio at Perry Green. In this work, Moore penetrates the form in two places to reveal the cavities within and create a connection between the internal and external material. These organic openings evoke Moore’s fascination with the sweeping forms, porous rocks, caverns and soaring cliff faces of the surrounding landscape.

This bronze is a study for Moore’s 'Reclining Figure: Bone' (Henry Moore Foundation) made the following year in 1975 from travertine marble. Unpicking the evocation of white marble as bone and the kinetic dynamism of the body, Moore described this sculpture saying: ‘...the bone is the inner structure of all living form. It’s the bone that pushes out from the inside; as you bend your leg the knee gets tautness over it, and it’s there that the movement and energy come from.’