Henry MooreEnglish, 1898–1986Working Model for UNESCO Reclining Figure
Can I see it?
Yes, on view now
Where is “Working Model for UNESCO Reclining Figure” now? Art Institute of Chicago, Gallery 389 (corridor), Chicago. Yes, on view now. Checked September 29, 2026.
Closed· opens at 11:00 AM
On public display.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the sculpture
In the 1950s, Henry Moore executed a number of important public commissions, including Reclining Figure for the headquarters of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization in Paris. The Art Institute’s sculpture is one of six smaller bronze versions of the unique, over-16-foot-long marble figure that Moore installed at UNESCO in 1958. The artist looked to many cultures—particularly to enduring examples of art from ancient Greece and the Yucatán region of Mexico—to give his figural works their monumental forms and profound resonance with the art of the past. This reclining figure connects not only to history but also to the earth—its swelling masses and rounded voids suggest the female form as well as a landscape of valleys, mountains, and caves.
Art Institute of ChicagoCC BY 4.0
Details
- Accession number
- 1960.9
What it shows
In the catalog
Sources
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Image: Art Institute of Chicago — © the artist or rights holder
In the life of Henry Moore
The whole life1940–1986
A bomb in Hampstead: the move to Hoglands
In September 1940 bomb shrapnel hit the Moores’ Hampstead home and they left London for Hoglands, a farmhouse in the hamlet of Perry Green near Much Hadham in Hertfordshire. It remained Moore’s home and workshop for the rest of his life; though he grew wealthy he never felt the need to move to larger premises.
1950s
Assistants at Much Hadham
In the 1950s the scale of Moore’s sculptures grew so much that he took on a growing number of assistants at Much Hadham, among them Anthony Caro, Roland Piché, Maurice Lowe and Richard Wentworth.
16 July 1955 – 18 September 1955
Exhibition: documenta
11 July 1959 – 11 October 1959
Exhibition: Documenta II
