Henry Moore Artwork Catalogue
Mother and Child
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Mother and Child
Date1983
Artwork TypeTextile
Catalogue NumberTEX 24:S1
Papersilk
Dimensionsobject: 850 x 840 mm
OwnershipThe Henry Moore Foundation: gift of Steven Gabriel
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This scarf was made to celebrate the 1983 Moore exhibition at the Palais Auersperg in Vienna. It was printed by Ditta Bianchi Giovanni for artfoulard in an edition of 250.
It is forty years later than the series printed by Ascher at the end of the war and is fundamentally different, most obviously in the monochromatic colour scheme so different from the vivid colours of the earlier squares. Rather than Moore’s previous use of drawing to work out textile ideas, here we find a more direct translation from one medium to another – the chalk, charcoal, wash and gouache from a drawing (that was not created as a textile idea) into the flowing crêpe-de-chine.
The concept of the fabric square as a work of art is further reinforced by the printing of the scarves in a limited edition. The pattern is a single image, not in repeat, and when worn transforms from a representational mother and child to an abstraction with dark sectional lines and mysterious shadows.
It is forty years later than the series printed by Ascher at the end of the war and is fundamentally different, most obviously in the monochromatic colour scheme so different from the vivid colours of the earlier squares. Rather than Moore’s previous use of drawing to work out textile ideas, here we find a more direct translation from one medium to another – the chalk, charcoal, wash and gouache from a drawing (that was not created as a textile idea) into the flowing crêpe-de-chine.
The concept of the fabric square as a work of art is further reinforced by the printing of the scarves in a limited edition. The pattern is a single image, not in repeat, and when worn transforms from a representational mother and child to an abstraction with dark sectional lines and mysterious shadows.
Exhibitions
Published References
Textile summary/Textile