_Golden Age Greek Criticism of Henry Moore’s Reclining Woman _
By: Anon.
Golden Age Greek Criticism of Henry Moore’s Reclining Woman Both the shape
and body of the Reclining Woman sculpture totally tear down our standards as
Golden Age Greeks. Not at all can I make out whom this sculptor is
representing. Sure I can make out the basic female figure. However the head is
way too small in proportion the rest of the body. Maybe Henry Moore has not
yet finished this piece. Did he make a mistake in the development of the chest
area? This could be the case. If still this is a finish piece of “art” in no
terms by us Greeks' is this considered ArtWhat I would have done if I were
to complete this hiatus mangled human form is to continue to define the legs
and arms especially. Still keeping the reclining look even though this
promotes the idea of laziness in our eyes. After all, Greek art has to be the
ideal of all, the perfect balance of mind and body -- picked up from Plato and
his teachings. This shows neither. A great example is the discus thrower how
the figure shows no physical stress or emotion through the face even though he
is performing a strenuous activity. With this in mind further defining of the
face, needed so the figure is anatomically correct and shows no stress through
facial expression This breaks all of our tradition in sculpture. On the one
hand the simplification and distortion of body and limb seem extremely daring
departures from the tradition which few do; on the other hand, this is
reminiscent of the earliest sculpture ever produced, which is far from a
perfect balance. Thus he has created a new form; that of pure laziness Moore
must think with the third dimension every bit as much as he must think in
terms of the other two. Human ideals should come naturally -- correct
proportions with the Platonic idea of mind and body balanced. Tying all of
these sculptural ideas together would be a great help for Henry Moore, who
seems challenged by every bit of these Other points to be noted in the
execution of the sculptor's idea than those of relating the proportions,
preserving the perfect body, and suggesting depths. A cardinal requirement,
and one which is made much of in any discussion of Greek sculpture, is truth.
Truth is essentially the same in sculpture as it is in anything else, but
there are in sculpture certain applications of it which need indicating. If
truth is conformity to a standard, there will be in every art certain canons,
conventions, principles, which are proper to that art and to which works of
that art must be referred. If the works fail to conform, they are not
expressions of that art but rebels against it. Whether carved, modeled,
written, painted, danced, or acted, the work must correspond to these set
Greek ideals. Henry Moore does not fit this with his Reclining Woman
sculpture.
. Art History notes.
Word Count: 496
| 
