Henry Moore

He married Irina Radetsky, a fellow student at the Royal College in 1929. They had one daughter, Mary.

He is credited to have influenced several generations of sculptors including Sir Anthony Caro, Philip King, Isaac Witkin, and Robert Adams.

He died in 1986 at the age of 88.

He was born as the seventh of eight children to Raymond Spencer Moore and Mary Baker. His father worked in a colliery and the family lived in poverty. Raymond wanted his children to have a decent education so that they could build better careers for themselves.

While at school he became aware about Michelangelo’s achievements and decided to become a sculptor. He later attended Castleford Grammar School where his headmaster noticed his interest in medieval sculpture.

He joined the army services when he was 18 and was injured in a gas attack in 1917. After recovering he became a physical training instructor.

In 1919, he became the first student of sculpture at the Leeds School of Art. After winning a scholarship to study at the Royal College of Art in London in 1921 he expanded his knowledge of primitive art and sculpture.

He won a six-month traveling scholarship in 1924 during which he went to Northern Italy where he studied the great works of Michelangelo, Giotto di Bondone and Giovanni Pisano.

He took up a teaching position at the Royal College of Art. This job required him to work only two days a week, so he had ample time to spend on his own work. His first public commission was ‘West Wind’ which he made during 1928-29.

He moved to Hampstead and joined a small colony of avant-garde artists which included Barbara Hepworth, Ben Nicholson, Naum Gabo, Roland Penrose and Herbert Read. Interactions with other artists enriched his knowledge and influenced his artistic abilities.

After teaching at the Royal College for six years he was appointed as the Head of the Department of Sculpture at the Chelsea School of Art in 1932.

He joined Paul Nash’s modern art movement, ‘Unit One’ in 1933. The next year he visited Spain and studied the paintings at the cave of Altamira.

He was on the organizing committee of the International Surrealist Exhibition along with Nash. The exhibition was held in 1936.

His sculpture ‘Nuclear Energy’ was unveiled at the site of the world’s first nuclear reactor, Chicago Pile-1 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the splitting of the atom in December 1967.

His famous sculpture ‘Draped Reclining Woman’ depicts a female figure in a reclining position with its weight supported by the right hand and right leg. It was made with a series of six castings and an artists cast.