The Picasso of Sculpture

Perhaps one of the most famous abstract sculptors, Henry Moore put his mark on the art world with his unique feminine pieces of metal designed to take up an entire corner of a yard. His sculpting began in the early 1920s after World War I ended. English by decent, he attended the Leeds School of Art and quickly became one of the top students. After college, Moore moved on to greater things. His academics earned him a six month scholarship which he chose to take in Italy and Paris. There, he took advantage of the timed drawing classes offered at the Academie Colarossi and studied paintings by Michelangelo and other masters.

His daughter was born in 1948 and his mother also passed on in the same year. Moore then, with family on the brain, began to sculpt abstract families out of metal. He took a trip to America and displayed some of his work at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Throughout the years, Moore’s sculptures began to take on more of a feminine form. He was particularly fond of reclining positions and sculpted most of his figures this way. The largest public collection of his sculptures can be found in the Gallery of Art in Ontario, Canada.

  (West Wind, 1928-29)

 (Family Group, 1950)

 (Reclining Figure, 1951)