Famous British artist, Henry Moore, photographed at work in 1945.
Henry Moore came from a humble background and rose to become one of the most prominent and admired sculptors of the 20th century. Best known for his large, semi-abstract figures with soft, undulating forms, Moore is today considered a pioneer of modernist sculpture, and his work remains popular around the world.
Though he is most famous for his sculptures, Henry Moore was also a talented draughtsman, and he created a large body of drawings and prints throughout his lifetime. Prints, in fact, account for 66% of the artist’s work sold at auction, where they usually fetch between £500 and £1,000, with a significant number reaching up to £5,000.
Below is a list of Henry Moore’s five most expensive prints sold at auction. To find out more about how much a specific Henry Moore print might be worth, or how to sell it, contact Mark Littler today.
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Two Standing Figures
This screenprint in colours dates from 1949, and it is therefore one of the earliest known prints by the artist; Moore was born in a small Yorkshire mining town in 1898, but for the first part of his career, he focused mostly on sculpture. By 1946, he’d only ever made four prints, though by the time of his death in 1986, the medium had become a major part of his artistic practice. This serigraph is very popular in today’s market, and this particular print was sold by Christie’s in December 2021 for £150,000, an extraordinary five times more than its top estimate.
Two Standing Figures sold by Christie’s in 2021
Mother And Child
Created in 1983, just a few years before the artist’s death, this portfolio of 30 etchings returns to one of the most powerful and enduring themes found in Moore’s work: the relationship between parent and child, and, more specifically, the maternal bond. By turns tender and playful, the undulating, organic forms of the prints capture the intimacy and complexity of this relationship, and they echo the shapes and lines of Moore’s celebrated sculptures, whilst also showing off his draughtsmanship.
Moore died before he had a chance to see the final published portfolio of prints, but they remain among his most popular in today’s market, accounting for eight out of his 12 most expensive prints sold at auction. This version was sold by Bloomsbury Auctions in July 2014 for £35,000.
1 of 30 Etchings sold by Bloomsbury in 2014
Sheep
Henry Moore was always heavily influenced by the landscape that surrounded him, and he often collected things such as bones, pebbles, fossils, rocks, shells, and pieces of wood so that he could study or draw them in an attempt to find “nature’s principles of form and rhythm.”
This set of 12 etchings created between 1972 and 1974 was also inspired by nature, being based on the bucolic view from Moore’s studio. The prints depict sheep at various stages of their lives with the same tenderness and humanity which infuse so much of Moore’s work. The artist once said, “Sheep have always had some special meaning for me”, and these wonderfully detailed prints are a testament to that. The works are also quite popular in today’s market, and this set was sold by Christie’s in March 2007 for £30,000.
Sheep sold by Christie’s in 2007
Elephant Skull
In 1965, Henry Moore encountered an elephant skull in the garden of his friends, Julian and Juliette Huxley, which had been given to them a few years earlier. In 1966, Juliette Huxley gifted the skull to Henry Moore. He later described it as “the most impressive item in my ‘library’ of natural forms”, and it became the inspiration for this portfolio of 30 etchings and drypoints from 1970.
The prints are an impressive and beautiful testament to Moore’s skill in printmaking, with the artist describing how he had come to find “that it is possible to get more delicate, sensitive … lines using the etching needle on a copper plate than one can ever get with any pen on paper. Therefore, the gradations from light to dark, of depth and shadows and projections of form, can be more exactly stated.” Indeed, the elephant skull is rendered in exquisite detail from various angles and ranges, with some of the close-up images becoming partially abstracted. The portfolio of 32 prints was sold by Mainichi Auction in February 2023 for £14,347, more than double its estimate.
1 of 32 Prints sold by Mainichi Auction in 2023
Stone Reclining Figure
In addition to his mother-and-child figures, Moore’s work is studded with reclining figures, allowing parallels to be drawn between the shape of the reclined human body and different elements found in landscapes. Moore apparently liked the practicality of making reclining figures, as they gave more “freedom compositionally and spatially” than those depicted seated or standing, and they have been a motif found in art since antiquity.
This print of a reclining figure was sold by Christie’s in February 2014 for £14,000. It dates from 1980, just six years before Moore’s death, when the intense physical work of making sculptures was becoming harder for the artist, and when printmaking was becoming a more and more important part of his artistic practice. Like Moore’s sculptural work, the print is full of soft, smooth curves and undulating, organic shapes, giving it a timeless beauty which echoes its creator’s belief “that sculpture should be permanent, should last for eternity.”
Stone Reclining Figure sold by Christie’s in 2014
