Henry Moore

Henry Moore (1898-1986) was a British sculptor and artist, best known for his semi-abstract monumental bronze sculptures which are located in public places around the world.

1. Early Life and Education: Moore was born on July 30, 1898, in Castleford, Yorkshire, England. His father was a coal miner who encouraged his son's education and artistic talent. Moore won a scholarship to study at the Leeds School of Art in 1919. He later won a scholarship to the Royal College of Art in London and studied there from 1921 to 1924.
2. Career and Influences: Moore was deeply influenced by non-European sculpture that he discovered in the ethnographic collections at the British Museum and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. His first public commission, "West Wind" (1928-29), was for a relief sculpture on the London Underground's headquarters. During the 1930s and 1940s, Moore taught at the Chelsea School of Art and served as an official war artist during the Second World War, where he produced powerful drawings of Londoners sheltering in the Underground during the Blitz.
3. Recognition and Legacy: Moore won the International Sculpture Prize at the Venice Biennale in 1948, which marked the start of his international reputation. He set up the Henry Moore Foundation in 1977 to encourage public appreciation of the visual arts and to provide grants to art institutions and education initiatives. Moore's works are held in museum collections around the world, including the Tate Gallery in London, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto.
4. Artistic Style: Moore's work is often characterized by its organic, abstract shapes, often suggestive of the human figure, sometimes with elements of mother and child or reclining figures. He used a variety of materials, including bronze, marble, alabaster, and wood, and used the technique of direct carving, whereby the sculptor carves directly into the chosen material without an intermediary model.
5. Financial Facts: The value of Moore's work has continued to appreciate since his death. A bronze cast of his sculpture "Reclining Figure: Festival" sold at Christie's in 2012 for £19.1 million ($30.1 million), a world record auction price for Moore.
6. Personal Life: Moore married Irina Radetsky in 1929. They had one daughter, Mary, born in 1946. Moore died on August 31, 1986, at the age of 88.
7. Philanthropy: The Henry Moore Foundation, founded by Moore and his family, supports artists and projects and manages Moore's estate. It operates from Perry Green, Hertfordshire, where Moore lived and worked from 1940 until his death.
8. Public Works: There are hundreds of Moore's sculptures in public collections and outdoor locations around the world. His largest work, "Large Arch," is located at the Henry Moore Foundation in Perry Green, UK, and measures 6 meters high by 11 meters wide.