1898-1986. British sculptor. His subjects
include the reclining nude, mother and child
groups, the warrior, and interlocking
abstract forms. Many of his post-World War II
works are in bronze or marble, including
monumental semi-abstracts such as Reclining
Figure 1957-58 (outside the UNESCO building,
Paris), and often designed to be placed in
landscape settings. Moore claimed to have
learned much from archaic South and Central
American sculpture, and this is reflected in
his work from the 1920s. By the early 1930s
most of his main themes had emerged, and the
Surrealists' preoccupation with organic forms
in abstract works proved a strong influence;
Moore's hollowed wooden shapes strung with
wires date from the late 1930s. Abstract work
suggesting organic structures recurs after
World War II, for example in the interwoven
bonelike forms of the Hill Arches and the
bronze Sheep Pieces 1970s, set in fields by
his studio in Hertfordshire. Moore, born in
Yorkshire, studied at Leeds and the Royal
College of Art, London. As an official war
artist during World War II, he made a series
of drawings of London's air-raid shelters.