Henry Moore Works in Public
This is a guide to Moore's sculptures on public display throughout the world. We strive to ensure that all information is accurate, however we recommend that you contact each venue before making a visit. Please also contact us if you spot any mistakes. In some instances it has not been possible to source an image of the actual sculpture in-situ, and on such occasions an alternative image has been used.
Dublin
St Stephen's Green
Trinity College
Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane
bronze
height 284.5cm
photo: Janet Moffat
This sculpture has been called Standing Figure – Knife-Edge also Standing Figure – Bone and again, Winged Figure. All three titles have some relevance to what it is, and how it came about.
Since my student days I have liked the shape of bones, and have drawn them, studied them in the Natural History Museum, found them on sea-shores and saved them out of the stewpot.There are many structural, and sculptural principles to be learnt from bones, e.g. that in spite of their lightness they have great strength. Some bones, such as the breast bones of birds, have the lightweight fineness of a knife-blade. Finding such a bone led to me using this knife-edge thinness in 1961 in a sculpture Seated Woman (thin neck) [LH 472]. In this figure the thin neck and head, by contrast with the width and bulk of the body, give more monumentality to the work. Later in 1961 I used this knife-edged thinness throughout a whole figure, and produced this Standing Figure.
Henry Moore quoted in James, Phillip, Henry Moore on Sculpture: a collection of the sculptor’s writings and spoken words, Macdonald. London 1966, p.278