Three Standing Figures

1940–1986

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.

1951

Turns down a knighthood

In 1951 Moore declined a knighthood, feeling that it would make him seem an establishment figure and might cut him off from fellow artists with similar aims. He later accepted the Order of the Companions of Honour (1955) and the Order of Merit (1963).

1951

“Reclining Figure: Festival” at the Festival of Britain

At the 1951 Festival of Britain Moore exhibited Reclining Figure: Festival, a plaster typical of his later manner: an abstract female figure intercut with voids.

1952

“Geometry of Fear” against Moore’s ideals

At the 1952 Venice Biennale eight new British sculptors showed their Geometry of Fear works as a direct contrast to Moore’s ideals of endurance and continuity; his large bronze Double Standing Figure stood outside the British pavilion, in sharp contrast to the rougher, more angular works inside.

1953

The São Paulo Biennale prize

In 1953 Moore received an international prize at the São Paulo Biennale, following his Venice prize of 1948.