“A reclining figure can recline on any surface. It is free and stable at the same time. It fits in with my belief that sculpture should be permanent, should last...
“A reclining figure can recline on any surface. It is free and stable at the same time. It fits in with my belief that sculpture should be permanent, should last for an eternity.” Henry Moore
‘Maquette for Reclining Figure: Prop’, 1975 shows a late example of perhaps the artist’s most defining subject: the reclining figure. The work demonstrates an artist at the height of his powers at the end of career, and yet, still willing to experiment and renew his formal language. The 1970s were a hugely prolific and successful period for Moore, producing major monumental sculptures as diverse as 'Mirror Knife Edge' 1977 for the National Gallery in Washington, 'Reclining Figure: Hand' 1979 which was given to the UN and 'Two Piece Reclining Figure: Cut' 1979-1981 for the Palais de la Musique et des Congres in Strasbourg.
During this period Moore has begun to consolidate his work, working largely with the form of the reclining Figure. father than restricting him as an artist, reducing his subject enabled the artist to experiment widely with this figure, as can be seen in the present work, with its undulating and engorged legs. These forms begin to resemble the rolling hills of the British landscape, emphasising the lasting influence of Jean Arp organic abstraction on the work of Henry Moore following his meeting with him in the 1930s.
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.
Another cast of Maquette for ‘Reclining Figure: Prop’ is now in the collection of Queensland Art Gallery, Australia.