Henry Spencer Moore
Born 30 July 1898
Died 31 August 1986
Active: 1915 - 1983
Country of birth and death: England
Sculptor
Born at 30 Roundhill Road, Castleford, Yorkshire. Taught at Castleford Grammar School 1916. Army service 1917-1919. Studied at Leeds School of Art 1919-21 (under Walter Pearson and Reginald Thomas Cotterill) and at the Royal College of Art 1921-24 (under Francis Derwent Wood and Sir William Rothenstein). Married Irina Anatolia Radetzki (1907-1989) a student in the painting school of the Royal College of Art in 1929.
Carved in stone and wood, later also casting in bronze. First solo show Warren Gallery, London 1928. Visited Paris, Rome, Florence, Ravenna and Venice in 1921, Italy in 1925, Spain 1927 and U.S.A. in 1946. Official war artist 1940-42. Taught at Royal College of Art 1925-32; Chelsea School of Art 1932-39. Early commissions include Underground Headquarters, London 1928-29. Awarded International Sculpture Prize VB 1948. Numerous major commissions, international exhibitions and awards after the war. Companion of Honour 1955. O.M. 1963. Started Henry Moore Foundation 1977. Died at Hoglands, Perry Green, near Much Hadham, Hertfordshire.
Commissions include: Church of St. Matthew, Northampton 1944: St. Peter’s Church, Claydon, Suffolk 1948-9; Festival of Britain 1951; Family group for Harlow New Town 1954-55; Barclay Secondary School, Stevenage 1948-49; screen and figure for Time-Life Building, London 1952-53; wall relief for Bouwcentrum, Rotterdam completed 1955; UNESCO headquarters, Paris 1957-58.
Exhibitions include: Tate Gallery, London 1951 (solo); Middelheim Park, Antwerp 1951, 53, 55, 59; Kassel Documenta I 1955 and II 1959; Sonsbeek, Arnhem 1952, 55, 58; LCC 1948, 54, 57, 60; SB 1951; SPB 1951, 53; VB 1952; Leicester Galleries, London 1954 (solo); Leeds City Art Gallery 1958; AC 1958, 60, 61; Whitechapel Art Gallery, London 1960 (solo, sculpture from 1950-60).
Collections include: Tate Gallery; Arts Council; British Council; Art Gallery of Ontario; Museum of Modern Art, New York.
Further reading: A. Bowness, H. Read and D. Sylvester, Henry Moore Complete Sculpture, (six volumes), (London: Lund Humphries, 1944 onwards)
P. James, (ed.), Henry Moore on Sculpture, (London: Macdonald, 1966).
H. Read, Henry Moore, (London: Thames and Hudson, 1965).
D. Mitchinson, (intro. and selection), Celebrating Moore, Works from the Collection of the Henry Moore Foundation, (London: Lund Humphries/The Henry Moore Foundation, 1998).
J. Hedgecoe, A Monumental Vision – The Sculpture of Henry Moore, (London: Collins and Brown, 1998).
Biography from Whiteley (2001) with additional information from Wilkinson (2004)
Wealth at death: £1,284,570 0s. 0d.
Probate date: 23 March 1987
Works
Dates are usually the year a work was exhibited so may differ from date of production.
New entries have been made each time a work was exhibited. Click here for more information.
Reclining figure (drawing for lead sculpture)
Reclining figures (for sculpture)
Reclining figure (for sculpture)
Figure on steps (for sculpture)
Three reclining figures (for sculpture)
Seated Figure
1935 (Presumed)
£36 15s.
Reclining Figure
1935 (Presumed)
£47 5s.
Mask
1935 (Presumed)
£28 7s.
Carved Reclining Figure
1935 (Presumed)
£89 5s.
Carved Composition
1935 (Presumed)
£89 5s.
Sculpture
1951 (Presumed)
Locations
Address 3 Acfold Road Fulham London England | View on map
1923 (Circa)
The painter and close friend of Moore, Raymond Coxon, also living at this address.
Address 3 Grove Studios Hammersmith London England | View on map
1926
Living next door to his close friend, the painter, Raymond Coxon.
Address 11A Parkhill Road Hampstead London England | View on map
1929 - 1939
Address Jasmine Cottage Barfreston England | View on map
1931 - 1935
Address Burcroft Kingston England | View on map
1935 - 1940
Address 7 The Mall Studios Parkhill Road London England | View on map
1939 - 1940
Moore sublet the studio from Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson who had moved to Cornwall.
Address Hoglands Perry Green Much Hadham England | View on map
1940 - 1986
Exhibitions, Meetings, Awards and other Events
Exhibited at Exhibition of Sculpture and Drawings by Henry Moore (Leicester Galleries), 1931
Multiple works
Exhibited at Festival of Britain, London: South Bank Exhibition, 1951
'Sculpture '
Exhibited at Leeds City Art Gallery, Yorkshire Artists' Exhibition, 1949
Multiple works
Exhibited at Leeds City Art Gallery, Yorkshire Artists' Exhibition, 1929
Multiple works
Exhibited at Leeds City Art Gallery, Yorkshire Artists' Exhibition, 1930
Multiple works
Exhibited at Leeds City Art Gallery, Yorkshire Artists' Exhibition, 1934
'Mother and Child'
Exhibited at Leeds City Art Gallery, Yorkshire Artists' Exhibition, 1935
'Mother and Child'
Exhibited at Leeds College of Art, 1846-1946 Centenary Exhibition, City Art Gallery, 1946
'Reclining Woman'
Exhibited at Platt Hall, Rusholme, Unit One Exhibition, 1934
Multiple works
Exhibited at Exhibition of sculpture and drawings by Henry Moore (Leicester Galleries), 1936
Exhibited at Exhibition of Modern Paintings and Sculpture lent by The Corporation of Manchester, Rutherston Loan Scheme (Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery), 1929
16 September 1929 - 7 December 1929
Exhibited one sculpture in wood; the work is undated in the catalogue, p. 3 (20).
Exhibited at London Group Exhibition, 1914-1939
1930 - 1937
Exhibited 3 times, usually three works
Exhibited at Sculpture and drawings by Henry Moore (Leicester Galleries), 1933
November 1933
Exhibited at Unit One Exhibition (Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea), 1935
26 January 1935 - 25 February 1935
Exhibited at The Royal Scottish Academy Exhibition, 1826-
1935 - 1978
Exhibited at the annual exhibition 9 times: 1935 (1 work), 1945 (1 work), 1948 (2 works), 1954 (4 works), 1956 (10 works), 1957 (1 work), 1961 (2 works), 1976 (1 work) and 1978 (3 works)
Exhibited at New sculpture and drawings by Henry Moore (Leicester Galleries), 1940
January 1940
Exhibited at New sculpture and drawings by Henry Moore (Leicester Galleries), 1946
October 1946
Exhibited at Festival of Britain, London: Ten Decades, a Review of British Taste, 1851-1951, 1951
1951
Moore lent a work entitled 'Interior-Exterior Form' to the exhibition. His 'Reclining Woman' (1930), in green Hornton stone, was lent by Peter Watson.
Exhibited at New bronzes and drawings by Henry Moore (Leicester Galleries), 1951
May 1951
Institutional and Business Connections
Elected honorary member of The Royal Scottish Academy
1974
Elected to membership of London Group
1930
Member of Unit One
Member of committee at London Group
1936
Hanging Commitee
Student at Leeds College of Art
1919 - 1921
Studied at Royal College of Art (including National Art Training School)
20 July 1923
Listed as a graduate from the 'School of Sculpture' in the College's 1923 'Distribution of Diplomas' list. Also listed the winner of a £10 prize for sculpture.
Teacher of modeling at Royal College of Art (including National Art Training School)
1926 (Presumed) - 1931
Listed as an 'Assistant' in the 'School of Sculpture' in the first avaliable school prospectus from 1926-1927. Last listed as assistant in the 1930-1931 prospectus.
Personal and Professional Connections
Employed as studio assistant Bernard Meadows
1936 - 1949 (Circa)
The working relationship lasted around fifty years (see Raikes (2005)
Employed as studio assistant Anthony A. Caro
1951 (Circa)
Influenced by Jacob Epstein
Moore and Raymond Coxon visited Jacob Epstein's studio and collection of African, Oceanic, and north-west coast art in 1921. In later life Moore said he met Epstein in 1928. (Wilkinson, ODNB, 2004)
Student of Leon Underwood
Moore attended classes at Underwood's studio in Hammersmith, they met at the Royal College of Art where the latter was a teacher of drawing
Student of Reginald Thomas Cotterill
1919 - 1921
According to a questionnaire completed by Henry Moore in the 1940s (Tate Archive)
Student of Walter Buckley Pearson
1919 - 1921
According to a questionnaire completed by Henry Moore in the 1940s (Tate Archive)
Student of Francis Derwent Wood
1921 - 1924
According to a questionnaire completed by Henry Moore in the 1940s (Tate Archive)
Student of (Herbert) Barry Hart
1921 (Circa) - 1924
According to Henry Moore, Barry Hart was: 'appointed to teach the art of carving purely and simply because his family were professional stone carvers. They were not sculptors, but they could, by using pointing machines, copy sculpture. The Royal Academicians would send them the plaster cast of a highly finished realistic portrait bust which had first been modelled in clay...He [Hart] believed that it was impossible to produce and absolutely correct copy of an existing model for sculpture without using a pointing machine, and since an identical copy was what he wanted, we were only taught to carve in that way. We were given classical sculptures to copy and no original carving was permitted. I believed I could copy faithfully without the pointing machine and I persuaded Barry Hart to let me try to carve my piece freely. Although he himself could handle a hammer and chisel remarkably well, he still didn't believe it was possible and I had to make false points in pencil on the marble so that, when Derwent Wood came round, he would think I was using the pointing machine.' ('Henry Moore: writings and conversations' 2002, pp. 47-8 originally published in John Hedgecoe, 'Henry Spencer Moore', 1968, p. 33)
Taught George Galway MacCann
1929 - 1932
While at Royal College of Art
Sources
Catalogue of an Exhibition of Sculpture and Drawings by Henry Moore
1931
Catalogue of the Leeds College of Art 1846-1946 Centenary Exhibition, 1946
November 1946
Cat. No. 171, p. 15
Catalogue of the Unit One Exhibition, Platt Hall, Rusholme, Manchester, 1934
1934
Cat. Nos. 18-22, p. 7
Catalogue of the Yorkshire Artists' Exhibition 1929
1929
Cat. Nos. 467, 468, p. 16
Catalogue of the Yorkshire Artists' Exhibition 1930
1930
Cat. Nos. 372, 373, p. 14
Catalogue of the Yorkshire Artists' Exhibition 1935
1935
Cat. No. 171, p. 6
Catalogue of the Yorkshire Artists' Exhibition 1949
1949 (Presumed)
Cat. No. 230, p. 9
Catalogue of the Yorkshire Artists' Exhibition, 1934
1934
Cat. No. 399, p. 15
Directory of sculptors working and exhibiting in Britain in the 1950s, by Gillian Whiteley
2001
pp. 24-5
Ernest Brown & Phillips Ltd., The Leicester Galleries. An index of 1422 catalogues of exhibitions of European Modern Art and 20th Century British Art, held between 1902 and 1977
http://www.ernestbrownandphillips.ltd.uk (accessed 17 July 2019)
Henry Moore: writings and conversations
2002
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
2004
Alan Wilkinson, ‘Moore, Henry Spencer (1898–1986)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, May 2009 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/39962, accessed 16 Oct 2009]
Prospectus of the Royal College of Art, 1926-1927 Royal College of Art
1926
Unpaged staff list.
Prospectus of the Royal College of Art, 1930-1931 Royal College of Art
1930
Unpaged list of staff.
Register of Royal College of Art Students, 1907-1924 Royal College of Art
1907
p. 159 and loose pages bound within this volume dated 1923-1924.
Royal College of Art, Distribution of Diplomas on Friday 20 July 1923
1923
p. 1.
The London Group 1913-1939: The artists and their works
1995
p. 117
The Royal College of Art: Its Influences on Education, Art and Design 1900-1950, 1991 Royal College of Art
August 1991
p. 590 and p. 597.
The Sculpture of Leon Underwood
2000
p. 145 (checklist of students at the Brook Green School of Drawing)
Citing this record
'Henry Spencer Moore', Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ireland 1851-1951, University of Glasgow History of Art and HATII, online database 2011 [http://sculpture.gla.ac.uk/view/person.php?id=msib2_1214407085, accessed 29 Sep 2023]
