Knife Edge Two Piece 1962–65
Knife Edge Two Piece 1962–65 | |
---|---|
Artist | Henry Moore |
Year | 1962–1965 |
Type | Bronze |
Dimensions | 366 cm (144 in) |
51°29′52.64″N 0°7′33.75″W / 51.4979556°N 0.1260417°W (London cast) 49°14′29.37″N 123°6′49.13″W / 49.2414917°N 123.1136472°W (Vancouver cast) 41°5′24.85″N 73°50′37.87″W / 41.0902361°N 73.8438528°W (Kykuit cast) 51°50′10.16″N 0°5′7.24″E / 51.8361556°N 0.0853444°E (Perry Green cast) |
Knife Edge Two Piece 1962–65 is an abstract bronze sculpture by Henry Moore. It is one of Moore's earliest sculptures in two pieces, a mode that he started to adopt in 1959. Its form was inspired by the shape of a bone fragment. Moore created the sculpture from an edition of 10 working models in 1962; these working models are now in public collections. Moore created four full-size casts between 1962 and 1965, with one retained by him. The three casts are on public display on College Green in Westminster, London; Queen Elizabeth Park in Vancouver; and the garden at Kykuit, the house of the Rockefeller family in Tarrytown, New York. Moore's own cast is on display at his former studio and estate, 'Hoglands' in Perry Green, Hertfordshire in southern England. A similar work, Mirror Knife Edge 1977 (or Knife Edge Mirror Two Piece), is displayed at the entrance to I. M. Pei's east wing of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. The Westminster cast was donated by Moore through the Contemporary Art Society to what he believed was the City of London, but its actual ownership was undetermined for many years. The Westminster cast subsequently fell into disrepair, and was restored in 2013 after it became part of the British Parliamentary Art Collection; it was granted a Grade II* listing in January 2016.[1]
Background
By 1960 Moore was moving on from his earlier works, directly inspired by the human form and with textured surfaces, such as
Working model
In 1962 Moore created an edition of 10 working models (LH 504) for a new two-piece sculpture. The
Sculpture
The full-size sculpture, catalogued as "LH 516", was cast in an edition of four (or "3+1"; one being retained by the artist). Moore was inspired by the "lightness and strength of bone fragment" in creating the piece.[9] The full-size sculptures, 366 centimetres (144 in) long and weighing about 3 tonnes (3.3 tons), were cast by Hermann Noack in Berlin.
The second cast of the work is located in Abingdon Street Gardens (better known as College Green) in the City of Westminster.[10][11] The other full-size casts are located near the fountains next to Bloedel Floral Conservatory in Queen Elizabeth Park in Vancouver, BC, Canada, donated by Prentice Bloedel;[12] near the Rose Garden of the Rockefeller family house at Kykuit at Tarrytown, New York.[13] Moore donated his artist's copy (0/3) to the Henry Moore Foundation in 1977, and it is displayed at Perry Green, Hertfordshire.[14]
Moore made a larger and reversed version of the sculpture, Mirror Knife Edge 1977 or Knife Edge Mirror Two Piece (LH 714) – which is 5.34x7.21x3.63m or about 17.5x23.7x11.9 feet and weighs about 15 short tons (14 t) – which was commissioned for the entrance to I. M. Pei's east wing of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.[15] The work is carefully cleaned and conserved each year to maintain the distinction between its shiny and patinated surfaces, as the artist intended.[16][17]
Westminster cast
The second cast of Knife Edge Two Piece is located in Abingdon Street Gardens, also known as
Moore liked the site so much that he did not even visit an alternative site in Hyde Park;[9] he felt that the sculpture might have been lost in such a big park, recalling an experience he had trying to find the sculpture Riva by Jacob Epstein in the park.[9] He welcomed the fact that the sculpture would be next to a public path and would have seating nearby to allow contemplation, and compared the gardens favourably with the setting for Hubert Le Sueur’s equestrian statue of Charles I at Charing Cross, "which, in order to look at closely and appreciate in detail, you have to risk your life in crossing a maze of traffic".[9] The siting of the sculpture was disliked by some, with Neil Marten MP asking Parliament why "this lovely part of Westminster should be littered with something that looks like a crashed unidentified flying object."[18]
Moore believed he had donated the work to the
Restoration
The Chair of the House of Commons Works of Art Committee,
Due to a lack of maintenance, the protective lacquer covering Knife Edge Two Piece degraded and exposed the surface of the sculpture to the elements.
See also
References
- ^ a b Knife Edge Two Piece Sculpture, Historic England
- ^ Standing Figure Knife Edge 1961, Henry Moore Foundation
- ^ Working Model for Knife Edge Two Piece, Tate Gallery
- ^ Working Model in The Hague, Henry Moore Foundation
- ^ Working Model in Helsinki, Henry Moore Foundation
- ^ Working Model in Rochester, New York, Henry Moore Foundation
- ^ Working Model in Zurich, Henry Moore Foundation
- ^ Henry Moore: Writings and Conversations, Henry Moore, Alan G. Wilkinson, p.291-292
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Conservation of Henry Moore sculpture to begin". Houses of Parliament. London. 11 February 2013.
- ^ "Knife Edge Two Piece 1962–65 (LH 516)". Henry Moore Foundation. London. 11 February 2013.
- ^ Cast in Parliament Square, Henry Moore Foundation
- ^ Cast in Vancouver, Henry Moore Foundation
- ^ Cast in New York, Henry Moore Foundation
- ^ Cast in Perry Green, Henry Moore Foundation
- ^ Mirror Knife Edge 1977 (LH 714), Henry Moore Foundation
- ^ Conservation of Henry Moore's Knife Edge Mirror Two Piece Archived 2012-12-14 at the Wayback Machine, National Gallery of Art
- ^ Knife Edge Mirror Two Piece Archived 2009-05-09 at the Wayback Machine, National Gallery of Art
- ^ a b c "Henry Moore's House of Lords artwork restoration begins". BBC News Online. London. 11 February 2013.
- ^ Who owns this damaged masterpiece by Henry Moore?, The Art Newspaper, 17 October 2011
- ^ a b c "Henry Moore sculpture to join Parliamentary Art Collection". Houses of Parliament. London. 18 November 2011.
External links
- Media related to Knife Edge Two Piece 1962–65 at Wikimedia Commons