Reclining Figure

Born the son of a coal miner, Moore attended the Leeds School of Art and the Royal College of Art in London in the early 1920s. He served as a part-time instructor at the Royal College of Art from 1932-1939. His greatest influences growing up were the Classical, pre-Classical, African and pre-Columbian art. He often visited the British Museum while he was growing up. Moore developed as a mature artist during the years he was an instructor at the Royal College of Art. The style which he became known for is not considered purely abstract since it appears too humanistic. His works probe the viewer?s psychic and have an obvious primitiveness about them. The Toltec sculpture of Chac-Mool, the Mexican Rain Spirit inspired Moore when he made one of his early masterpieces in sculpture, the 1929 Reclining Figure. In this seventh edition completed in 1939, Moore holds to his belief of remaining true to his materials. The principle of staying true to one?s materials evolved during the English Arts and Crafts movement. The image of the reclining figure dominated much of Moore?s work. He did versions of it in wood, stone and cast metal.