Henry Moore Artwork Catalogue
Designing UNESCO - Art, Architecture and International Politics at Mid-Century
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Bib. Number0022620
Designing UNESCO - Art, Architecture and International Politics at Mid-Century
Author/EditorPEARSON Christopher E.M.
PublisherAshgate
Place PublishedFarnham
Year2010
Date & Collationxxi.389pp.Illus.Appendix.Bibliography.Index
LanguageEnglish
More InformationMonograph of the genesis, construction and reception of the Paris headquarters of the United Nations' Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation. Conceived in 1950 and inaugurated in 1958.
In 1. The Dialectics of modernism: UNESCO as form and symbol:
9 and 11 reference to large scale works of art scattered over the landscaping, including location and site of Reclining Figure "its bulky curves recognizably cut from the same porous travertine as the building's veneer, holds erect a tiny, vestigial head. Facing west, she lies on a stone table in front of the long piazza façade, presiding over one of the sunken patios like a gargantuan sunbather in a pool".
18 Reference to the use of modern art and Moore's large female figure "to mitigate the stark geometries of modern architecture ... they hint at a return to the production of social meaning". Moore's figure "remains obstinately mute ... an unreconciled conflict between the modernist demand for subjective expression and an institutional need for a publicly legible iconography".
21 passing reference to Moore in list of artists rejecting the materialistic premise of modernity and marking a return to "subjectivity, spiritual values and mysticism".
In 2. Reconstruction and synthesis: the institutional and intellectual origins of UNESCO: passing reference to Moore:
44 friendship with Julian Huxley, first Director-General of UNESCO.
56 advisor to the International Association of Plastic Arts (IAPA).
In 3. "Synthesis of the major arts": Le Corbusier in Paris and at the United Nations:
71-72 Moore's Recumbent Figure 1938 green Horton stone, (LH 191) used to exemplify the "rapprochement of art and architecture as separate but related formal entities".
78 Le Corbusier sketches showing the work of a reclining figure in the style of Moore.
82 Time-Life Screen 1952-53 Portland stone, (LH 344) given as example of "synthesis of the arts" in the 1950s.
104 UN Secretary-General, Dag Hammarskjöld, influenced the choice of artists. He was planning to install a large work by Hepworth or Moore, before his death.
In 5. UNESCO Headquarters: The Porte Mailott Project, 1952:
144 passing reference to association with Marcel Breuer and Herbert Read.
In 8. The Art Advisers:
235-236 Herbert Read's relationship with Moore. Read wrote that Moore can "create ideal forms which have all the vital rhythm and structure of natural forms. He can escape from what is incidental in nature, and create what is spiritually necessary and eternal". Influenced my Read's ideas, Moore drew inspiration from bones, stones and the rounded forms of hills and landscapes, which he then conflated with the curves of the female body.
239-242 on the selection of artists.
245 correspondence between Huxley, Read, Jean Thomas at UNESCO, the curator Sir Philip Hendy and Moore.
247 contract with Moore to be concluded when final maquettes were forthcoming.
In 9. Sun, moon, constellation and reclining figure: the art of UNESCO:
255-265 Moore one of six major artists; Illus of Reclining Figure, UNESCO, Roman travertine (LH 416); Moore's approach to sculpture, including the ultimate goal "to give the impression of life force residing in the material, seeming to shape its contours from within and hinting at vital energy connecting all living things, a connotation again potentially relevant to the universalizing work of UNESCO"; George Salles approached Moore in 1955; Description of the process; Moore produced numerous drawings and small clay maquettes suggesting the role of education at the level of the single human being, validating both UNESCO's primary mandate as well as its focus on the individual; Mary Moore; choice of material; Bernard Zehrfuss; full scale photographic blow-ups of maquette; work of the Société Henraux masonry works near Forte dei Marmi; most important work of Moore's career; media interest; Will Grohmann review; Moore reflected on the nature of modern art and its conflicted relationship to society; organic counterpoint to the technology of Breuer's architecture.
Passing reference to Moore in relation to other artists:
268 and 270 in relation to Miro - on the desire to work closely with architects; on private and idiosyncratic symbolism.
275 in relation to Arp and antipathy to modern technology.
278 in relation to Calder.
283 and 290 in relation to Isamu Noguchi's garden and ground plan of overlapping "bio-morphic shapes".
297 Moore praising Picasso's work.
303 passing reference to Moore on site, prior to the inauguration.
In 10. Conclusions:
318 passing reference to Moore.
324-5 Erich Neumann writing on the female archetype in relation to Moore's UNESCO work.
340-41 Moore signed a collective statement alongside artists and architects, in support of Israel.
See index for references to Moore in footnotes.