Nature was always at the centre of Moore’s work. In 1951, he declared: “Sculpture is an art of the open air. Daylight, sunlight, is necessary to it, and for me its best setting and complement is nature. I would rather have a piece of my sculpture put in a landscape, almost any landscape, than in, or on, the most beautiful building I know.” (Tate 1951 exhibition catalogue). 

Although his forms often appear abstract, he was fundamentally a figurative artist – the human body remained his core concern throughout his life. In his maquette studio, he surrounded himself with natural forms - bones, stones, shells and driftwood – which he transformed into figures through the addition of clay, plasticine and plaster. When he enlarged these works and placed them outside, the rise and fall of the body - knees, breasts, and shoulders - echoed the forms of the land. Moore enhanced the relationship of his works to their environment by incorporating space within them. He broke the figure into multiple parts and pierced his sculptures to create holes, making space a part of the sculpture and bringing the landscape into the very form of the work.