Henry Spencer Moore

Cowley Abbott Auction House Biography and Notes

Henry Moore is one of Britain’s most significant artists of the twentieth century as well as a highly influential figure in modern sculpture. Born in a small coal-mining town of Castleford, Yorkshire in the north of England, he was the seventh out of a family of eight children. Despite an early ambition to be a sculptor, Moore followed his father’s wish to become a schoolteacher. His studies got cut short due to World War I, when he enlisted in the British Army and was sent to France. After suffering from the effects of gas shells, he returned to England and in 1919 was given a rehabilitation grant, which he used to attend the Leeds School of Art. Moore studied drawing and sculpture during his two years of studies. He then passed the sculpture examination and was awarded a Royal Exhibition scholarship to study at the Royal College of Art in London. In September 1921 he moved to London and began three years of advanced study in sculpture; he took his diploma at the Royal College after two years and spent a third year doing postgraduate work. What was most significant about Moore’s stay in London was not his schooling but his exposure to the important works of art in the city’s major museums. He was particularly inspired by the collection of Egyptian, Etruscan and Classical sculpture at the British Museum.