Henry Moore Artwork Catalogue
Animal Head
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Animal Head
Date1956
Foundry
Fiorini Ltd, London
Artwork TypeSculpture Summary
Catalogue NumberLH 396
Mediabronze
Dimensionsartwork (h x l x d): 57 × 51.5 × 29 cm
Ownershipedition summary - see individual casts for ownership
More InformationEdition summary
Bronze edition of 10+1 artist's copy, cast c.1957-62
Foundry: Fiorini Ltd, London
Current or last known owner - click on the 'related' tab below to find out more about specific works
cast 4: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City: Gift of The Hall Family Foundation
cast 7: Sloane Street Auctions, London, 28 Sep 2022
cast 8: Sotheby's, London, 13-14 Jun 2016
cast 10: The Henry Moore Foundation: gift of the artist 1977
cast a: Rijksmuseum Kröller-Müller, Otterlo
cast b: The Trustees of the Tate Gallery: gift of the artist 1978
cast c: Museum Ostwall, Dortmund
cast d: unknown
cast e: unknown
cast f: unknown
cast g: unknown
plaster, 1956: Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto: gift of Henry Moore 1974
Remarks
Not all casts are marked with a number. Where it is unknown, or where casts are unnumbered, they have been assigned a letter as a unique catalogue reference.
Moore visited Paris for the first time in 1922 with his friend Raymond Coxon. On this visit they particularly wanted to see the works of Cézanne, an artist who Moore respected and drew inspiration from throughout his life. After Moore had married Irina Radetzky more visits followed, continuing throughout the 1930s often in the company of Coxon and his wife Edna. Animal Head was not executed until 1956, but has a striking resemblance to the famous gargoyles on the outside of the spires of Notre Dame. Although there is no conclusive evidence of a visit by Moore to the cathedral, through studies of the sculptural treasures he would have found, it seems highly unlikely that he would not have been aware of these carvings during the earlier visits.
Animal Head is an unusual sculpture as it appears to have been perceived by the artist as a wall-mounted object. Moore's dictum was always that a sculpture had a front, two sides and a back. Complete three-dimensionality of form was his essential artistic concern. The only other sculptural pieces exempt from this credo, coming from the 1950s, are the wall reliefs (LH 365-373a), the Three Forms Relief 1955 (LH 374), and the large brick construction for the Bouwcentrum in Rotterdam, executed in 1955 (LH 375).
Reinhard Rudolph
Bronze edition of 10+1 artist's copy, cast c.1957-62
Foundry: Fiorini Ltd, London
Current or last known owner - click on the 'related' tab below to find out more about specific works
cast 4: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City: Gift of The Hall Family Foundation
cast 7: Sloane Street Auctions, London, 28 Sep 2022
cast 8: Sotheby's, London, 13-14 Jun 2016
cast 10: The Henry Moore Foundation: gift of the artist 1977
cast a: Rijksmuseum Kröller-Müller, Otterlo
cast b: The Trustees of the Tate Gallery: gift of the artist 1978
cast c: Museum Ostwall, Dortmund
cast d: unknown
cast e: unknown
cast f: unknown
cast g: unknown
plaster, 1956: Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto: gift of Henry Moore 1974
Remarks
Not all casts are marked with a number. Where it is unknown, or where casts are unnumbered, they have been assigned a letter as a unique catalogue reference.
Moore visited Paris for the first time in 1922 with his friend Raymond Coxon. On this visit they particularly wanted to see the works of Cézanne, an artist who Moore respected and drew inspiration from throughout his life. After Moore had married Irina Radetzky more visits followed, continuing throughout the 1930s often in the company of Coxon and his wife Edna. Animal Head was not executed until 1956, but has a striking resemblance to the famous gargoyles on the outside of the spires of Notre Dame. Although there is no conclusive evidence of a visit by Moore to the cathedral, through studies of the sculptural treasures he would have found, it seems highly unlikely that he would not have been aware of these carvings during the earlier visits.
Animal Head is an unusual sculpture as it appears to have been perceived by the artist as a wall-mounted object. Moore's dictum was always that a sculpture had a front, two sides and a back. Complete three-dimensionality of form was his essential artistic concern. The only other sculptural pieces exempt from this credo, coming from the 1950s, are the wall reliefs (LH 365-373a), the Three Forms Relief 1955 (LH 374), and the large brick construction for the Bouwcentrum in Rotterdam, executed in 1955 (LH 375).
Reinhard Rudolph
Sculpture Summary/Cast