
Henry Moore: Upright Motives No. 1 (Glenkiln Cross): No 2; No 7
Art Outdoors /Henry Moore: Upright Motives No. 1 (Glenkiln Cross): No 2; No 7
The Upright Motives were part of a large commission, for the courtyard of the new Olivetti building in Milan. Moore stated that “my immediate thought was that any sculpture that I should do must be in contrast to this horizontal rhythm. It needed some vertical form in front of it. At the time I also wanted to have a change from the Reclining Figure theme that I had returned to so often.”
Altogether Moore created twelve Upright Motives in the mid 1950s. The sculpture which developed a primitive cruciform head later became known as the Glenkiln Cross, after a farm on a private estate in Scotland where the first cast of the work was sited. In their powerful symbolism these pieces owe much to the tall, upright stones, known as menhirs, from prehistoric times. Moore brought all these influences together to create forms which are unmistakably his own.
You might also like
- Art Outdoors
Katrina Palmer: The Coffin Jump
The Coffin Jump was created at YSP in 2018 as part of the 14-18 NOW arts programme for the First World War centenary. Katrina Palmer was awarded the commission to create an artwork and she took inspiration from the role of women during the war, and in particularly the all-female First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANY). - Art Outdoors
Henry Moore: Large Totem Head
This sculpture is enlarged from a much smaller work made five years previously called Head: Boat Form and the resemblance to a hollowed-out boat remains clear. However, unlike that sculpture, which sat horizontally, Large Totem Head is raised to a standing form, assuming the totem-like presence of its title. - Art Outdoors
Jonathan Borofsky: Molecule Man 1+1+1
- Art Outdoors
Henry Moore: Large Two Forms
Large Two Forms can be found in the Country Park – Moore’s favourite area of the Bretton Estate, where he enjoyed seeing his sculptures surrounded by sheep. The colossal sculpture is impressive in both scale and composition, appearing very different from every angle and continuing the theme of points that almost meet, which appears in much of Moore’s work.