Henry Moore OM, CH

Mother and Child

1953, cast c.1954

Artist
Henry Moore OM, CH 1898–1986
Medium
Bronze on wooden base
Dimensions
Object: 530 × 270 × 345 mm, 16 kg
Collection
Tate
Acquisition
Presented by the Friends of the Tate Gallery 1960
Reference
T00389

Display caption

Moore treated the subject of mother and child repeatedly. This sculpture is one of a group of small bronzes made by the artist during the early 1950s that focus specifically on the relationship between mother and child. During the Second World War Moore's interpretation of the theme emphasised the mother's nurturing role, a response to the human suffering of war. He continued to explore this aspect of the subject in the 1950s. Here he distorts the figures to suggest the submission of the mother to the aggressive needs of the child as it tries to suckle from her breast.

Gallery label, February 2010

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