Reclining Figure by Henry Moore - 1951

Henry Moore was born in 1898 as a son of a coal miner in Castleford, West Yorkshire, England. He was the seventh of eight children in a family that often struggled with poverty. Despite his early promise, Moore's parents had been against him training as a sculptor, a vocation they considered manual labour with few career prospects.

The 'Festival Reclining Figure'  (length 228.5 cm) is located at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art One, Edinburgh

 

 

This sculpture was commissioned by the Arts Council of Great Britain for the Festival of Britain exhibition (photo) in 1951. Moore was asked to make a carving of a family group symbolising 'Discovery', but he chose instead to make a large reclining figure in bronze. Moore explained his liking for reclining figures in typically rational terms, observing that large standing figures have a weak point at the ankles.  > Tekst: National Galleries Scotland