Accession Number
2008/2.197

Title
Eight Reclining Figures I

Artist(s)
Henry Moore

Artist Nationality
British (modern)

Object Creation Date
1967

Medium & Support
color lithograph on Barcham Green paper

Dimensions
30 5/16 in x 22 1/4 in (76.99 cm x 56.52 cm);31 3/4 in x 23 3/4 in x 1 in (80.64 cm x 60.33 cm x 2.54 cm);30 5/16 in x 22 1/4 in (76.99 cm x 56.52 cm)

Credit Line
Gift of Dr. Seymour and Barbara K. Adelson

Label copy
Recent Acquisitions: Curators Choice Part I, November 12, 2011-March 18, 2012
Henry Moore
England, 1898–1986
Eight Reclining Figures I, from Meditations on the Effigy
1967
Color lithograph

Subject matter
After the Second World War, Moore produced a huge number of public sculptures of the same subject depicted in this print, that of the reclining figure (these sculptures include one at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris and another in front of Lincoln Center in New York). The popularity of this subject matter in his work cannot be overstated. This color lithograph was originally part of a series of lithographs and etchings included in an album of works, with text by the art critic Robert Melville, called "Meditations on the Effigy." This theme is derived from Moore's interest in the human figure; here the effigy reference is not of a particular person but a general idea of humanity and what it has lost in the post-WWII atomic age. For Moore, the subject of the reclining figure allowed an unique place to investigate space and form, positive and negative space, and can be traced back to works of the early 1920s. 

Physical Description
In two vertical rows at the center of the lithograph, there are eight reclining abstract figures. Each pair is colored the same but the designs for each reclining figure are distinct: colors from top to bottom are purple, brown, orange, blue. There is an allover wash of grey in the background and then darker marks and crosshatching around the figures to suggest shadow. The artist's signature and the date is in the stone (l.r. reversed) "Moore / 67.". The artist's signature, date and number is also in pencil "Moore / 67." (l.r.) and "29/50" (l.c.).

Primary Object Classification
Print

Collection Area
Modern and Contemporary

Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.

Keywords
abstraction
albums (books)
biomorphic abstraction
effigies
human figures (visual works)
reclining