Two Piece Reclining Figure No. 4

Two Piece Reclining Figure No. 4
1962
Bronze
69.5 x 109.6 x 58.9 cm
Purchased with support from the Wakefield Permanent Art Fund and Gulbenkian Foundation, 1963 © Reproduced by permission of The Henry Moore Foundation. Photography Jerry Hardman-Jones

The human reclining figure was a constant theme throughout Moore’s career; about a third of his works of art involved interrogating and abstracting the recumbent human form.

Two Piece Reclining Figure No. 4 is made from bronze, a material which the artist used frequently towards the end of his career. One of the distinguishing hallmarks of his figures was that they were often pierced to emphasise the three dimensionality of the material and sculptural form. This sculpture takes the idea one step further by separating the ‘human figure’ into two separate pieces.