''Reclining Figure 1969–70'' (LH 608) is a

bronze sculpture Bronze is the most popular metal for Casting (metalworking), cast metal sculptures; a cast bronze sculpture is often called simply "a bronze". It can be used for statues, singly or in groups, reliefs, and small statuettes and figurines, as w ...

by English artist

Henry Moore Henry Spencer Moore (30 July 1898 – 31 August 1986) was an English artist. He is best known for his semi-abstract art, abstract monumental Bronze sculpture, bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art. Moore ...

History

Inspired by the shape of a piece of flint, Moore created a maquette for the sculpture in plaster which was cast in an edition of small bronzes, some long. The maquette was used to create a full-size version in polystyrene, which was used to create a mould for a monumental sculpture. The sculpture can be viewed as an abstraction of a reclining female human figure, resting on one arm, hip and two legs, with the second arm raised, and a prominence on the chest suggesting a breast. It has no evident face. Six full-size copies were cast in 1969 and early 1970, at the Noack factory in Berlin, and an artist's copy was cast shortly before Moore's death in 1986. The sculpture measures and weighs around . One cast was exhibited in a major retrospective of his work at the

Forte di Belvedere The Forte di Belvedere or Fortezza di Santa Maria in San Giorgio del Belvedere (often called simply Belvedere) is a fortification in Florence, Italy. History Forte Belvedere is the second and largest fortress to be built in Florence, Italy. I ...

in Florence in 1972, later described by Moore as the pinnacle of his career. The artist's cast (0/6) was stolen from the

Henry Moore Foundation The Henry Moore Foundation is a registered charity in England, established for education and promotion of the fine arts — in particular, to advance understanding of the works of Henry Moore, and to promote the public appreciation of sculpt ...

Perry Green, Hertfordshire Perry Green is a scattered hamlet in Hertfordshire, England, near Much Hadham. The sculptor Henry Moore settled there in 1941. His house Hoglands now forms part of a sculpture garden featuring his work, run by the Henry Moore Foundation The ...

on 15 December 2005. It is believed to have been hoisted onto the back of a stolen flatbed Mercedes lorry using a crane, cut up for scrap the same night, and shipped to

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

, and then probably to the Far East. The sculpture was estimated to be worth £3M, but only £1,500 as scrap. The theft inspired German artist Fritz Balthaus in 2009 to cast bronze ingots of equivalent weight which, arranged in a form approximating Moore's sculpture, are displayed as ''Pure Moore'' at the Federal Criminal Police Office in Berlin.

History

See also

References

External links