I Just Think They're Neat: Henry Moore's Blobby Sculptures

Henry Moore OM, CH, Draped Seated Woman  1957–8, cast c.1958–63. Source.

Look at these fabulous blobs. No faces, no clearly defined features. Maybe at the most they have have a little space that slightly resembles an eye socket, and a lump to stand in for a nose. That’s it. No defining features to speak of, no tight restrictive clothing (no bras, even). Nary a thought in their little stone heads. Life is simple for these fools, and I would like to join them.

Henry Moore was a British sculpture artist who liked to wear cardigans while he worked. He created over 1,100 sculptures over the course of his career, working in stone, wood, plaster, bronze, lead and fiberglass. If your first thought after reading that sentence was, “Yeah I would too if my sculptures were just a bunch of blobs!” I would ask you to consider if you ever even bothered to shape a pizza dough into a beautiful voluptuous lady. No? I bet you $5 Henry did!

With names like “Large Slow Form”, and “Recumbent Figure”, his sculptures remain compellingly mysterious. They look like characters in a De Chirico landscape: anonymous, stoic, but carrying so much physicality they’re practically alive. They’re terrific, and I love them.

Henry Moore OM, CH. Recumbent Figure. 1938. Source.

Henry Moore OM, CH, Double Head, Bronze, Stone. 1928. Source

You can tour the room at the Tate.