Henry Moore was an artist and sculptor. Born into a poor mining family
in Castleford, he became well known for his large scale abstract cast
bronze and carved marble sculptures; substantially supported by the
British art establishment, Moore helped to introduce a particular
strand of modernism into Britain. His ability to satisfy large-scale
commissions, led him to become exceptionally wealthy towards the end
of his life, although he spent little and the bulk of his wealth went
to endow the Henry Moore Foundation which continues to support
education and promotion of the arts. His signature form is a pierced
reclining figure, first influenced by a Toltec-Maya sculpture known as
"Chac Mool," which he had seen as a plaster cast in Paris in 1925.
Early versions are pierced conventionally as a bent arm reconnects
with the body; later more abstract versions are pieced directly
through the body, in order to explore the concave and convex shapes.
These more extreme piercings developed in parallel with Barbara
Hepworth's sculptures, when she first pierced a torso after misreading
a review of one of Henry Moore's early shows.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Moore
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1774:
Joseph Priestley discovered oxygen, corroborating the prior discovery
of this chemical element by Carl Wilhelm Scheele.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/oxygen)
1798:
French Revolutionary Wars: The Battle of the Nile started between
French and British fleets.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Nile)
1927:
People's Liberation Army was established in China.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Liberation_Army)
1944:
The Warsaw Uprising against Nazi occupation began in Poland.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsaw_Uprising)
1981:
MTV debuted with the song Video Killed the Radio Star by The Buggles.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTV)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
"From without, no wonderful effect is wrought within ourselves, unless
some interior, responding wonder meets it. That the starry vault shall
surcharge the heart with all rapturous marvelings, is only because we
ourselves are greater miracles, and superber trophies than all the
stars in universal space." -- Herman Melville
(
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Herman_Melville)