Henry Moore: Sculpting the Twentieth Century Book + PRICE WATCH * Amazon pricing is not included in price watch

Henry Moore: Sculpting the Twentieth Century Book

Even when a famous artist's critical reputation has fallen on bad times, it's rare that the negative side of the legend finds its way into an elegantly designed and copiously illustrated monograph like Henry Moore: Sculpting the 20th Century. Yet those who deride the "civic trophy" aspect of Moore's ubiquitous bronze figures may reconsider their verdict in light of the perceptive arguments presented here by eight art historians. The scrutiny of Moore begins with the question of known and possible sources for the early blocky seated figures of the '20s, inspired by his fascination with African, Oceanic, and pre-Columbian sculptures. After investigating Moore's experiments with surrealism in the '30s, the text discusses the poignant drawings of people huddled in Underground stations during World War II that brought his work to the attention of a wider public. The criticisms of Moore's work began when he shifted from the "truth to materials" embodied in his stone, wood, and cast-concrete figures to working in bronze and marble. Beginning in the early '60s, a younger generation of artists questioned the validity of his metaphors and his team of assistants. Critics singled out his repetitive forms and his failure to create site-specific work. ("I think you should make something that is right anywhere," Moore responded.) Yet the inherent warmth and tactile quality of Moore's often curiously androgynous figures has proved irresistible to many. This book is the catalog for an exhibition organized by the Dallas Museum of Art. --Cathy Curtis Read More

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  • Product Description

    Henry Moore (1898-1986) is arguably one of the most famous and beloved sculptors of the twentieth century, yet in recent decades his work has fallen out of favour in the world of contemporary art criticism. This handsome book examines this intriguing contradiction and seeks to reassess Moore's crucial contribution to art of the last century. Looking at Moore's early engagements with primitivism, his 1930s dialogue with abstraction and surrealism, and his postwar interest in large-scale public sculpture, the authors show how the sculptor helped to define some of the most significant aspects of modernism. The authors also contextualise within the polemics of early modernism Moore's emphasis on direct carving instead of modeling and the necessary balance between abstraction and what he called the "psychological human element". Moore's early sculpture - largely unfamiliar to the general public - is given particular attention, enabling the reader to explore the evolution of thematic and formal elements in his work and his ongoing response to different materials. Photographs, some by Moore himself, of over 120 works, including plasters, maquettes, carvings, bronzes, and drawings, are features, many of which are previously unpublished. This catalogue accompanies a major exhibition organised by the Dallas Museum of Art with the generous collaboration of the Henry Moore Foundation. The exhibition opens in Dallas on 25th February 2001 and then travels to the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

  • 0300089929
  • 9780300089929
  • D Kosinski
  • 1 March 2001
  • Yale University Press
  • Hardcover (Book)
  • 320
  • illustrated edition
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