Henry Moore
English, 1898 - 1986Working Model for Sheep Piece, 1971
Not on view
Bronze
Dimensions41 3/8 × 60 1/4 × 38 5/16 in. (105.1 × 153 × 97.3 cm)
Anonymous gift in honor of the Flint Institute of Arts’ 50th Anniversary, 1978.1
In the early 1970s, Henry Moore was working in a small studio overlooking the English countryside. As a passionate observer of nature, he spent much of his time studying the sheep outside his window. He sketched the way they moved and behaved then developed this sculptural model. After filling an entire sketchbook with drawings Moore confessed that his initial reaction to the creatures was abstract. He described them as “rather shapeless balls of wool with a head and four legs.” Here two abstracted sheep huddle together — perhaps illustrating his fascination with the protective bond between animals.
