Henry Moore Value: Top Prices Paid at Auction

Moore's Reclining Figure: Festival (1951) represents a pivotal moment in his career, serving as his inaugural life-size reclining figure commissioned for the 1951 Festival of Britain. Initially met with mixed reactions, it stirred both criticism and admiration for its innovative and humanist aesthetic. Over the years, this artwork has gained substantial value in the secondary market, notably setting Moore's auction record when it sold at Sotheby's in November 2022 for £26 million, marking its third successful sale, each surpassing the previous in value.

Moore's exploration of the reclining figure motif remained a constant theme throughout his career, evolving in significance and form. In Reclining Figure (1982), he masterfully balances the twisting and contorted body while introducing drapery around the feet, enhancing the sculpture's formalism and inviting contemplation from various angles. This edition of nine achieved notable success, selling at Christie's in November 2017 for £8.4 million, while another edition of the same work reached £7.1 million at Christie's in November 2018. These sales solidify these pieces as some of Moore's top-selling works, reflecting their artistic merit and market appeal.

Moore delved further into the concept of balance by exploring physical fragmentation in sculptures, exemplified in Large Four Piece Reclining Figure (1972-1973). This artwork presents the reclining figure in four distinct parts, offering multiple perspectives of each form. Close examination suggests that these pieces could potentially interlock if positioned in specific orientations, despite their fragmented nature. Through deliberate stacking and placement, Moore achieves a sense of harmony and balance within the composition. His artistic prowess lies in rendering the human form both uncanny and recognisable, blending elements of modernity, surrealism, and constructivism. Large Four Piece Reclining Figure achieved £6.3 million at Christie's in May 2017, highlighting its significance among Moore's most sought-after works.

Seated Woman (1957) is part of Moore's notable series of female sculptures from the 1950s, marking a departure from his earlier reclining forms with a focus on gender specificity and seated figures. The sculpture portrays a woman with a broad torso and a prominent pregnancy, reflecting Moore's deep-seated fascination with the female form, rooted in his relationship with his mother. This exploration of life's journey and the human figure profoundly influenced Moore's sculptural practice. Crafted in plaster and later cast in bronze, Seated Woman is a deeply personal and celebrated work that fetched £5.7 million at Sotheby's in May 2017, underscoring its significance in Moore's oeuvre.

Conceived in 1968, Working Model for Three Piece No. 3: Vertebrae is inspired by the human skeletal structure, presenting fragmented vertebrae sculptures interconnected in a unified composition, symbolising their interdependence and functional significance. Part of an experimental series from the 1960s onwards, each subsequent sculpture in the series grew in size, reflecting Moore's ambitious vision. The largest stands over twenty-four feet tall, prominently displayed outside Dallas City Hall. Other variations of this exceptional artwork reside in prestigious collections such as Tate London and the Art Gallery of Ontario. Rarely appearing in auctions, this sculpture achieved £5 million at Christie's in February 2012, underscoring its significance among Moore's top-selling works.

In the dynamic 1960s and 1970s, Moore embarked on an artistic journey exploring the fragmentation of the reclining figure, achieving surrealistic undertones and innovative biomorphic forms through fragmentary presentations. Two Piece Reclining Figure: Points (1969-1970) exemplifies this exploration, attaining £5 million at Christie's in November 2015, underscoring its artistic merit and historical importance.

In the 1930s, Moore focused his early drawings on exploring the seated nude figure, but it was in the 1950s that he expanded upon these initial concepts, delving into a more nuanced portrayal of the intimate bond between mother and child. Mother And Child With Apple (1956), the mother exudes strength and stability, grounded and protective, as she interacts with her standing child, who playfully engages with an apple in her lap. This scene captures a tender and everyday human connection. Part of a limited edition of 10, the artwork fetched £5 million at Christie's in February 2014, marking a record price for this piece.

During his early career, Moore explored heads with distinctive Aztec chacmool features, challenging traditional symmetry by introducing a flattened nose that disrupts eye alignment, creating a mask-like appearance. Moore's fascination with heads continued throughout his career, influencing his prints and later works which focused on capturing skeletal elements defining animal heads, such as Elephant Skull I (1970). Head (circa 1934-1936) achieved £4.6 million at Christie's in June 2018, highlighting its significance and Moore's varied exploration of form and representation.

Created in 1975, Three-Piece Reclining Figure: Draped is a monumental sculpture that diverges from Moore's earlier exploration of two-piece compositions. In this work, Moore fractures the form into three distinct parts, thereby reshaping and reinterpreting his sculptural language. The sculpture's fragments feature smooth, sinuous contours: a radiant arch resembling a bent leg and a totemic oval shape rising behind it, its curves reminiscent of a heart organ. These elements invite multiple viewpoints and subjective interpretations. This seminal work exemplifies Moore's profound artistic vision and achieved significant success at Sotheby's in November 2004, selling for an impressive £4.5 million.

Draped Reclining Woman (1957-1958), part of a limited edition of six, with most held in public collections, showcases Moore's unique blend of profound human characteristics and drapery techniques, while maintaining his naturalistic aesthetic and sense of balance. The sculpture's posture gracefully transitions between reclining and alert states, a testament to Moore's exploration of spatial form and equilibrium. This sculptural edition achieved an impressive sale price of £4.3 million at Christie's in June 2008, solidifying its position among Moore's highest-selling artworks.