Recumbent Figure Flashcards
moore basic autobiographical context
-miners son
-fought in WW1
-Studied sculpture Leeds School of Art and Royal College of Art
date
1938
artist
henry moore
artistic training and interests
*Studied sculpture Leeds School of Art and Royal College of Art
*Was taught traditional, Academic, naturalistic sculptural techniques: the importance of Antique sculptural tradition. His early work is in this style
*Interested principally in working with the human form
-studied non western art at the royal colledge of art
*Desire to develop a timeless, universal sculptural treatment human figure
post war context and moore
-thought the mechanical development in war showed civilisation to be morally bankrupt
-returned to ‘authentic origins’ (primitivism) to revitalise sculptural tradition away from mechanic subject
how was moore influenced by Roger fry
influenced by Vision and Design (1920) by Bloomsbury critic Roger Fry (Fry wrote about European Modernism – Cezanne, Cubism, Fauvism etc. Also promoted aesthetic value of ‘Negro’ sculpture)
qualities roger fry celebrated in african art:
Its’ three-dimensional realisation
- 3D sculptural quality
-Truth to materials
how was moore influenced by primitivism
-fry’s book Vision and Design (1920)
-influenced by the primitivism of Modernist pre-war artists working in Britain such as Henri Gaudier-Brzeska (who was directly influenced by primitive art and had huge influence on Moore’s developing ideas)
-went on to the Royal College of Art where studied non-western or ‘world sculpture’ at the British Museum. Made numerous sketches of works in collection. Assyrian and Babylonia, African, Oceanic, Alaskan, Mexi-can
how did direct carving influence this sculpture
*Associated with Primitivism and return to origins (Inspired by Non Western techniques, artists inspired to directly carve works themselves)
*Rejection of Victorian sculptural practice of creating a wax or plaster model which then translated into stone by assistance through use of a pointing machine. Mechanical procedure
*Retain memory of the block stone carved from - block dominates pose
-leaves traces of process of making such as visible claw marks. Rejection of Victorian tradition of carving where finished surface smoothed to replicate skin and conceal/disguise process of making
what does the pose reference
Reference tradition of Odalisque in art history. Legs bent and raised, arm bent above head etc.
Pose – influence of Chacmool – Aztec sculpture saw as plaster cast in Paris -Trocadero. Had profound impact on his work
treatment of form
abstractction, reduction of features,
Blocky treatment of form. Large, solid limbs, thick set body etc.
brief description
*Figure represented reclining on elbows, knees bent, head raised in a relaxed pose (pose: engagement with motif of reclining figure and influence of Mayan Chacmool sculptures)
-Pose – retains watchful head turned sharply towards views
-Horizontal emphasis, only the head projects above upper line
-Rhythmic contours evoke rolling hills etc
-Full roundedness of arms and legs but in different positions
-Abstracted, not naturalistic: but there are recognisable aspects of the female form (head, arms, breasts, knees and buttocks)
-Aura of ‘watchfulness’ – this what fascinated him about original:
*Predominantly rounded and organic form and hollows
*Human forms are synthesised with natural forms and imagery (bones, shells, caves and hills)
method
Direct Carving - also influenced by Aztec sculpture seen at BM. Attracted to Aztec sculpture because of its “stoniness – by which I mean its truth to materials.”
retains memory of block, pose fits into shape of block
why was moore attracted to aztec sculpture
because of its “stoniness – by which I mean its truth to materials.”
patron
was commissioned by Modernist Russian architect Serge Chermayeff
for the house he designed: Bentley Wood in Sussex.
where did moore sculpt this
Moore sculpted Recumbent Figure in grounds of his house in Kent, Burcroft.
how is this not pure direct carving
He made drawings and a lead maquette before sculpted work (not pure ‘direct carving’)
effect of the use of voids
*Use of holes further abstracts figure: there is a solid / void contrast; positive space; concave / convex contrast
how do the qualities of the stone effect the appearance
*Long, low stable composition reflects low tensile strength and heavy weight of stone, evoking timelessness and permanence
*Natural colour / graining of stone retained / visible: horizontal direction of strata / grain respected – relate to skin tone
*low tensile strength meant Unbroken outlines (apart from head) due to difficulty of carving projecting forms
*No visible tool marks, stone is smoothed but not highly polished (Polished, relatively smooth surfaces enhance natural / organic imagery: sense of eroded forms, hollows and bumps, contours)
*Qualities of stone (hard) enables drilling and carving to achieve positive and negative spaces (solids and voids)
influence of surrealism
BIOMORPHISM
-biomorphic forms or images are ones that, while abstract, nevertheless refer to, or evoke, living forms such as plants and the human body.
-came around in 1930
SURREALIST OBJECT TROUVÉ
-Using found objects as inspiration – Moore used natural forms such as bones and pebbles
SURREALIST DOUBLE IMAGES
-the huill in the curvilinear forms (to see one thing in something else)
Influence of abstraction
Fusion of human body and landscape
key influences
*Influence of Surrealist / Picasso’s biomorphism – humanoid abstractions
*Simplification and abstraction of human figure – influence of transformational drawings of bones and pebbles etc – the idea of using such objects as inspiration came from the idea of Surrealist found objects (objets trouvés)
*fusion of human figure with landscape: influence of Surrealist double images, idea of metaphor
*Abstraction in UK in work of contemporaries and colleagues such as Hepworth, Nicholson and Gabo
*Fusion of abstraction and surrealism
