SFX: Baby giggle
MOTHER (ACTOR):
Welcome to our family. The sculptor Henry Moore created us to express the closeness and connection that people in families often share.
FATHER (ACTOR):
But he didn’t make us look exactly real. He distorted our bodies to emphasize certain things. For instance, can you see how our arms make a figure eight as we hold our child between us? That’s the sign for infinity. The line continues ‘round and ‘round, and that gives the feeling that we will be together forever. Look carefully – you can’t even see where our child’s body ends.
MOTHER:
Our child is truly a part of us…
SFX: Baby fussing
FATHER:
Even when he’s fussing! It’s okay, sweetie.
SFX: Baby coo
MOTHER:
Have you ever noticed how mothers and children often sit comfortably touching or holding each other? Our bodies have massive, scooped-out forms that look as if they’ve grown to match each other.
FATHER:
Take a good look at us from a few angles, and see if you agree.
Family Group #1
1948-49
Henry Moore (English, 1898-1986)
On View
In 1935, the influential modernist sculptor Henry Moore began drafting ideas for a sculpture depicting a family, but it was not until 1948 that he created Family Group #1 on commission for an elementary school in Stevenage, England. To prepare his first large-scale sculpture following the end of World War II, he produced several maquettes and, for the first time, a life-sized plaster model. This model was cut into several parts before being cast in bronze and rejoined. The size of the cast necessitated the use of the ancient technique of “Roman joints,” in which the pieces are slotted together using an inner structure secured by pins. In total, Moore had five casts produced for personal disposal to galleries and museums, including this artist’s copy purchased by Norton Simon in 1973.
Details
- Artist Name: Henry Moore (English, 1898-1986)
- Title: Family Group #1
- Date: 1948-49
- Medium: Bronze
- Edition: Edition of 4
- Dimensions: 60 x 44 1/2 x 30 1/4 in. (152.4 x 113.0 x 76.8 cm)
- Credit Line: Norton Simon Art Foundation, Gift of Mr. Norton Simon
- Accession Number: M.1982.4.S
- Copyright: © The Henry Moore Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Object Information
Henry Moore Fifteen Bronzes: From the Collections of the Norton Simon Foundation and the Norton Simon, Inc. Museum of Art
- New Orleans, New Orleans Museum of Art, 1973-12-03 to 1974-10-23
- The Times-Picayune, 1973,
- New Orleans Museum of Art, Annual Report 1973 New Orleans Museum of Art, 1973, cover
- Campbell, Sara, Collector Without Walls: Norton Simon and His Hunt for the Best, 2010, cat. 993 p. 360
Additional Artwork by Artist
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