HENRY MOORE (1898-1986)
The British sculptor Henry Moore was a leading figure in the 20th-century art world
Henry Moore was born in Castleford, a small town near Leeds in the north of England. He was the seventh child of Raymond Moore and his wife Mary Baker. He studied at Castleford Grammar School from 1909 to 1915, where his early interest in art was encouraged by his teacher Alice Gostick. After leaving school, Moore hoped to become a sculptor, but instead he complied with his father’s wish that he train as a schoolteacher. He had to abandon his training in 1917 when he was sent to France to fight in the First World War.
After the war, Moore enrolled at the Leeds School of Art, where he studied for two years. In his first year, he spent most of his time drawing. Although he wanted to study sculpture, no teacher was appointed until his second year. At the end of that year, he passed the sculpture examination and was awarded a scholarship to the Royal College of Art in London. In September 1921, he moved to London and began three years of advanced study in sculpture
Alongside the instruction he received at the Royal College, Moore visited many of the London museums, particularly the British Museum, which had a wide-ranging collection of ancient sculpture. During these visits, he discovered the power and beauty of ancient Egyptian and African sculpture. As he became increasingly interested in these ‘primitive’ forms of art, he turned away from European sculptural traditions.
After graduating, Moore spent the first six months of 1925 travelling in France. When he visited the Trocadero Museum in Paris, he was impressed by a cast of a Mayan* sculpture of the rain spirit. It was a male reclining figure with its knees drawn up together, and its head at a right angle to its body. Moore became fascinated with this stone sculpture, which he thought had a power and originality that no other stone sculpture possessed. He himself started carving a variety of subjects in stone, including depiction of reclining women, mother-and-child groups, and masks.
Moore’s exceptional talent soon gained recognition, and in 1926 he started work as a sculpture instructor at the Royal College. In 1933, he became a member of a group of young artists called Unit One. The aim of the group was to convince the English public of the merits of the emerging international movement in modern art and architecture.
Around this time, Moore moved away from the human figure to experiment with abstract shapes. In 1931, he held an exhibition at the Leicester Galleries in London. His work was enthusiastically welcomed by fellow sculptors, but the reviews in the press were extremely negative and turned Moore into a notorious figure. There were calls for his resignation from the Royal College, and the following year, when his contract expired, he left to start a sculpture department at the Chelsea School of Art in London.
Throughout the 1930s, Moore did not show any inclination to please the British public. He became interested in the paintings of the Spanish artist Pablo Picasso, whose work inspired him to distort the human body in a radical way. At times, he seemed to abandon the human figure altogether. The pages of his sketchbooks from this period show his ideas for abstract sculptures that bore little resemblance to the human form.
In 1940, during the Second World War, Moore stopped teaching at the Chelsea School and moved to a farmhouse about 20 miles north of London. A shortage of materials forced him to focus on drawing. He did numerous small sketches of Londoners, later turning these ideas into large coloured drawings in his studio. In 1942, he returned to Castleford to make a series of sketches of the miners who worked there.
In 1944, Harlow, a town near London, offered Moore a commission for a sculpture depicting a family. The resulting work signifies a dramatic change in Moore’s style, away from the experimentation of the 1930s towards a more natural and humanistic subject matter. He did dozens of studies in clay for the sculpture, and these were cast in bronze and issued in editions of seven to nine copies each. In this way, Moore’s work became available to collectors all over the world. The boost to his income enabled him to take on ambitious projects and start working on the scale he felt his sculpture demanded.
Critics who had begun to think that Moore had become less revolutionary were proven wrong by the appearance, in 1950, of the first of Moore’s series of standing figures in bronze, with their harsh and angular pierced forms and distinct impression of menace. Moore also varied his subject matter in the 1950s with such works as Warrior with Shield and Falling Warrior. These were rare examples of Moore’s use of the male figure and owe something to his visit to Greece in 1951, when he had the opportunity to study ancient works of art.
In his final years, Moore created the Henry Moore Foundation to promote art appreciation and to display his work. Moore was the first modern English sculptor to achieve international critical acclaim and he is still regarded as one of the most important sculptors of the 20th century.
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*Mayan: belonging to an ancient civilisation that inhabited parts of current-day Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador and Honduras.
Questions 1-7
Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in Reading Passage 1?
In boxes 1-7 on your answer sheet, write
TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this
1. On leaving school, Moore did what his father wanted him to do.
2. Moore began studying sculpture in his first term at the Leeds School of Art.
3. When Moore started at the Royal College of Art, its reputation for teaching sculpture was excellent.
4. Moore became aware of ancient sculpture as a result of visiting London Museums.
5. The Trocadero Museum’s Mayan sculpture attracted a lot of public interest.
6. Moore thought the Mayan sculpture was similar in certain respects to other stone sculptures.
7. The artists who belonged to Unit One wanted to make modern art and architecture more popular.
Questions 8-13
Complete the notes below.
Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 8-13 on your answer sheet.
Moore’s career as an artist
1930s
● Moore’s exhibition at the Leicester Galleries is criticised by the press
● Moore is urged to offer his 8………………… and leave the Royal College.
1940s
● Moore turns to drawing because 9…………………. for sculpting are not readily available
● While visiting his hometown, Moore does some drawings of 10………………….
● Moore is employed to produce a sculpture of a 11…………………
● 12………………. start to buy Moore’s work
● Moore’s increased 13…………………. makes it possible for him to do more ambitious sculptures
1950s
● Moore’s series of bronze figures marks a further change in his style
LỜI GIẢI CHI TIẾT
1. Answer: TRUE
Key words: leaving school, Moore, did, father, wanted
It is mentioned in the first paragraph that “After leaving school, Moore hoped to become a sculptor, but instead he complied with his father’s wish”. To ‘comply with something’ means to ‘agree to or obey something’, so Moore agreed to do what his father wished. Thus, this statement is clearly true.
- want = wish
2. Answer: FALSE
Key words: began, sculpture, first term, Leeds School of Art
By skimming the proper noun ‘Leeds School of Art’, we can find information in paragraph 2 saying that “Although he wanted to study sculpture, no teacher was appointed until his second year”. This means that he could not have studied sculpture in his first year, not to mention his first term. Thus, the answer is FALSE.
3. Answer: NOT GIVEN
Key words: Royal College of Art, reputation, sculpture, excellent
By skimming the proper noun ‘Royal College of Art’, we can find information in paragraphs 2 and 3 that mention his period of study there. However, there is no information on the reputation of this school. Therefore, the answer is NOT GIVEN.
4. Answer: TRUE
Key words: aware, ancient sculpture, visiting, London museums
In paragraph 3, it is stated that Moore visited many London museums where “he discovered the power and beauty of ancient Egyptian and African sculpture”.
- become aware = discover
5. Answer: NOT GIVEN
Key words: Trocadero Museum, Mayan sculpture, public, interest
The proper noun ‘Trocadero’ can be found through skimming in paragraph 4. It was in this museum that Moore “became fascinated” with a Mayan sculpture, but there is no information on whether the public also found it fascinating. Thus, we do not know if this Mayan sculpture attracted public interest or not.
6. Answer: FALSE
Key words: Mayan sculpture, similar, other, stone sculptures
Still in paragraph 4, regarding the Mayan sculpture, Moore thought it “had a power and originality that no other stone sculpture possessed”. The word “originality” and the phrase “no other stone sculpture possessed” imply that the Mayan sculpture was different and unlike any others. Thus, it would be wrong to say that the Mayan sculpture was similar to other stone sculptures.
7. Answer: TRUE
Key words: artists, Unit One, modern art, architecture, popular
Unit One is mentioned in paragraph 5: “The aim of the group was to convince the English public of the merits of […] modern art and architecture”. This means that Unit One wanted to prove to the public that modern art and architecture was of good quality and excellence. In other words, they wanted to make it more popular among the public.
QUESTIONS 8-13: COMPLETE THE NOTES BELOW.
8. Answer: resignation
Key words: urged, offer, leave, Royal College
Paragraph 6 mentions the event of Moore leaving the Royal College: “There were calls for his resignation from the Royal College, and the following year […] he left […]”. This means that people wanted Moore to leave by offering his resignation (an announcement made by Moore himself that he would leave the job). Thus, Moore was urged by his employers at the Royal College to offer his resignation.
9. Answer: materials
Key words: turns to, drawing, sculpting, not, available
Moving on to the 1940s, paragraph 8 mentions: “A shortage of materials forced him to focus on drawing”. This means that Moore focused on drawing because materials for sculpting were not available.
- turn to = focus on
- not available = shortage
10. Answer: miners
Key words: visiting, hometown, drawings
We know from the start of the passage that Moore’s hometown was named Castleford, so we should be looking for this proper noun. In paragraph 8 we find: “In 1942, he returned to Castleford to make a series of sketches of the miners who worked there”.
- some drawings ~ a series of sketches
11. Answer: family
Key words: employed, produce, sculpture, of
Paragraph 9: “In 1944, Harlow, a town near London, offered Moore a commission for a sculpture depicting a family”. The phrase ‘offer someone commission’ means ‘employ someone and pay them with money’. In this case, Moore was employed to make a sculpture of a family.
- employ = offer [someone] a commission
12. Answer: collectors
Key words: start, buy, Moore’s work
Paragraph 9: “Moore’s work became available to collectors all over the world”. While this sentence alone cannot prove that Moore’s work was ‘bought’ by collectors, it is supported by the following sentence: “the boost to his income […]”. Thus, it can be inferred that Moore gained extra income thanks to collectors buying his work.
13. Answer: income
Key words: increased, possible, ambitious, sculptures
This question directly follows question 12: “The boost to his income enabled him to take on ambitious projects”
- increase = boost
- make it possible for = enable
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