Henry Moore (1898-1986)
Two autograph manuscripts, ‘Some Notes on Space and Form in Sculpture’ and another preparatory draft of titles for Eight European Artists, [c.1954]
Six pages in total, 234 x 293mm. Provenance: Sotheby's, 29 & 30 June 1982, lot 237.

‘One distorts the forms in order to create space…’: Moore’s thoughts on the interactions between space and form in sculpture. In reference to his own work, he notes: ‘at one time the holes in my sculpture were made for their own sakes…and sometimes the form was only the shell holding the hole. Recently I have attempted to make the forms and the spaces (not holes) inseparable, neither being more important than the other’. Referencing his ‘last bronze reclining figure’, he concludes that he has ‘in some measure succeeded with this aim’ and goes on to discuss the ‘tension and inner force of forms’ alongside comparing the environment in which his own types of sculpture are placed, noting that ‘sculpture in the open air looks smaller than when seen in the enclosed space of indoors’. Closing with a discussion on sculptors’ drawings, Moore disregards the expectation that such drawings should be ‘diagrammatic’, instead stating that with these drawings ‘it is necessary to give it the possibility of an existence beyond the surface of the paper’.

The present manuscript offers a fascinating insight not just into Moore’s working practices when it came to creating sculpture, but also into his thoughts regarding perceptions of his works when placed in different environments. Eight European Artists was published in 1954 and featured artists such as Matisse, Picasso, and Moore; edited and introduced by Felix H. Man, it included original contributions by the eight artists.