Art Appreciation

¶ … sculpture of artist Henry Moore. Specifically, it will look at his art style and how events in his life affected his work Henry Moore was an influential English abstract sculptor who lived from 1898 too 1986. His modernistic works appear in museums and collections around the world. He was intensely preoccupied with two forms of sculpture above all others, the "reclining figure," which he reproduced dozens of times. Each one was different, but followed the same basic premise of a figure lying down.

The other is the "mother and child," which he reproduced countless times in countless ways. Moore's artistic talent was discovered early, when an art teacher took interest in his work while he was still in secondary school. His family did not encourage him in his artistic pursuits, and so he began his career as a teacher, and then went into the army. In 1919, he received a grant to study at the Leeds School of Art for two years.

Here he discovered a book by Roger Fry called "Vision and Design," which changed the way he looked at art forever. Fry's book showed him less traditional forms of art, such as Mexican sculpture and Negro art. From this book, and his studies, he began to devise his own approach to art, which was distinctly modern.

He later said, "Some become sculptors because they like using their hands, or because they love particular materials, wood or stone, clay or metal, and like working in these materials -- that is, they like the craft of sculpture -- I do'" (Grohmann 16). His family background also helped form and mold his art, even if he was not creating "traditional" sculpture.

Moore's Irish-Celtic streak explains the predilection for the early and inchoate in Irish-Anglo-Saxon art; perhaps there the "Upright forms" of later years echo the tall Irish crosses that often rose to a height of 30 feet, and we're decorated with scenes from the Bible. Even the slightest Irish element frequently acts as a powerful ferment in the spiritual life of England (Grohmann 15). In 1922, Moore went on to win a scholarship at the Royal College of Art, where his instructors further encouraged him.

After he graduated, he lectured at the college, and traveled around Europe studying other types of traditional and non-traditional art forms. Even his earliest sculptures were modernistic and forward thinking, totally leaving the conventional world of art behind. Moore's prime concern was the material. He loved working in stone, and used it almost exclusively in his work. He especially admired the ability sculpture gave him to create 3-D images, viewable from all sides, and different from all sides. He loved the abstract in design as his works show so effectively.

He often wrote about his own work, and once said, "Abstract qualities of design are essential to the value of a work, but to me of equal importance is the psychological, human element. If both abstract and human elements are welded together in a work, it must have fuller, deeper meaning'" (Grohmann 25). Moore's work still has power today because he tried to create works that meant more to the viewer than just a carved piece of stone.

He hoped to give the viewer a complete view of the project, and include elements of humanity and depth. He wanted his work to come alive in the viewers' eyes - another reason he enjoyed working in stone. He hoped the viewer could almost imagine the stone before it was carved, so the actual sculpture would be even more vibrant and alive. If a work of sculpture has its own life and.