Dissertation prouduced in conjunction with the Open University for the qualification of MA in Art History.

Henry Moore's sculptures have been subject to extensive analysis and interpretation which in the main has focused on their context of production, drawing on specific narratives constructed around the artist's biography and his place in the history of British modernism. By reconsidering Moore's sculptures from the perspective of the spectator's reception of the works, this dissertation argues that, rather than being totally defined by these established narratives, they can be re-interpreted as artworks in the twenty-first century based upon the spectator's direct experience of them, although this is dependent not only on the sculptures themselves but also, crucially, on the specific site and conditions of display and the subjectivity of the spectator. Chapter 1 considers the extent to which critical methods associated with post-modernism can be used to re-asses Moore's sculptures in a contemporary context, in particular the idea of the embodies spectator's encounter with sculptures as physical objects with presence and agency in the real world and the importance of the specific site to that encounter. Chapters 2, 3 and 4 go on to apply this approach to examples of Moore's post-war bronze reclining figures displayed at three very different sites - art gallery, urban space and landscape.

Martin Brook examined three particular sculptures: Reclining Figure No.4 (Two Piece), 1961 (LH 479); Reclining Woman: Elbow, 1981 (LH 810); Reclining Figure: Hand, 1979 (LH 709) in the context of three different venues for their siting: The Hepworth Wakefield, Leeds Art Gallery, and Yorkshire Sculpture Park.