Henry Moore’s Reclining Figure carved in Elmwood was first displayed in Wakefield soon after its completion in 1936, just in time for the West Riding Artists’ Exhibition of that year. It remained on loan from the artist until the Gallery was able to acquire it permanently in 1942.
The reclining female figure is a recurring theme, which he pursued throughout his career. This started in the 1920s when Moore saw a photograph of a Mexican limestone carving of the rain spirit Chacmool in a German art publication.
By the 1930s Moore was experimenting with solids and holes as a way of connecting one side of a sculpture with the other, thus emphasising that a sculpture exists in three dimensions and should be appreciated from all angles and not just from a single viewpoint. Moore also encouraged the spectator to explore the spaces between the forms as well as the forms themselves.
In Wakefield’s Reclining Figure Moore realised his desire to open out the mass of his sculpture and consequently made a decisive contribution to 20th Century art.
