Henry Moore Artwork Catalogue
Caterpillar and Insect Wings
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Caterpillar and Insect Wings
Date1947
Artwork TypeTextile Summary
Catalogue NumberTEX 10
Paperrayon
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One of the more light-hearted textile designs, this patchwork of ideas includes motifs that have been selected from many different sources. While the interplay of rectangular forms is sketched out in HMF 2113, the scrollwork appears first in pencil in HMF 2114, and again in vivid indigo blue in HMF 2148. The motif of free yet hard-edged intersecting lines is roughed out in HMF 2155. Variations on insect wings and ovals derive from HMF 2111 (see TEX 11) and HMF 2112, while the twisting caterpillar crops up in HMF 2101 (see TEX 17) and HMF 2146. The schematic view of the caterpillar, with its face and each leg clearly visible and its ‘S’ shaped curve, has its origin in an illustration of a Chiricahua Apache painted leather poncho in Indian Art of the United States, by Frederic H. Douglas and René d’Harnoncourt. Moore balanced the complexity of the design with a simple two-colour scheme to produce a distinctively modern pattern overall.
Textile summary/Textile