Plate XI, from the series "Elephant Skull"

Artist/Maker Henry Moore (British, 1898 - 1986)

Publisher Gérald Cramer , Geneva

Date1969 (published 1970)

MediumEtching

DimensionsPlate: 9 7/8 × 7 11/16 in. (25.1 × 19.5 cm) Sheet: 19 7/16 × 14 15/16 in. (49.4 × 37.9 cm)

Credit LinePurchased with funds donated by William G. Roehrick, Class of 1934, H1971

Object number1988.21

On view

DescriptionIn 1919, having completed his military service in World War I at the age of thirty-one, Henry Moore entered the Leeds School of Art, where he studied for two years before transferring to the Royal College of Art in London. He made sculptures that were influenced by what was then called “primitive” art from various world cultures (see cat. no. 85). In a series of thirty-two prints produced in 1969, Moore explored the contours and volumes of a three-foot-tall elephant skull that the biologist Julian Huxley and his wife, Juliette, had given to him the previous year. The skull had resided in the couple’s garden, but the London climate was causing it to deteriorate. Bones and skeletal structures intrigued Moore on account of their paradoxical lightness and strength, which he felt could inform his sculpture. “By bringing the skull very close to me and drawing various details,” Moore wrote, “I found so many contrasts in form and shape that I began to see in it great deserts and rocky landscapes, big caves in the sides of hills, great pieces of architecture, columns and dungeons.” To make the etchings, Moore composed and drew directly in the resist on his copper plates rather than copying drawings he had created beforehand. In the early prints in the series, he depicted the entire skull, as here, while in later ones, he concentrated on specific details. The series was published by Gérald Cramer, who worked with such prominent artists as Joan Miró, Georges Braque, and Max Ernst. He also owned a gallery in Geneva that specialized in exhibiting prints and small sculptures. (SOURCE: Alcauskas, INNOVATIVE APPROACHES, HONORED TRADITIONS, 2017)

Collections

Additional Details

Exhibition History 2024-2025
Clinton, NY. The Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art, Hamilton College. "Menagerie: Animals in Art from the Wellin Museum," September 7, 2024 –June 8, 2025 (no cat.).

2017
Clinton, NY (Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art, Hamilton College). "Innovative Approaches, Honored Traditions: The Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art at Five Years, Highlights from the Permanent Collection," September 9 - December 10, 2017(cat. no. 98, illus.);

2012-13
Clinton, NY (Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art, Hamilton College). "Affinity Atlas," October 6, 2012 - April 7, 2013 (brochure);

1992
Clinton, NY (Fred L. Emerson Gallery, Hamilton College). "Rebels & Romantics: Some British Moderns and Their Work," June 6 - September 6, 1992 (cat. no. 31).

Provenance 1988: Hamilton College (Fred L. Emerson Gallery), by purchase from auction, Sotheby's, New York.

Markings Watermark: "[outline of abstracted reclining figure]" visible on verso at lower left.

Published References Katherine D. Alcauskas, INNOVATIVE APPROACHES, HONORED TRADITIONS: THE RUTH AND ELMER WELLIN MUSEUM OF ART AT FIVE YEARS, HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE PERMANENT COLLECTION (Clinton, NY: Wellin Museum of Art, 2017), p. 218;

David Lewis, ed., REBELS & ROMANTICS: SOME BRITISH MODERNS AND THEIR WORK (exh. cat. Clinton, NY, Fred L. Emerson Gallery, 1992), [checklist] 64.

FRIENDS OF ART NEWSLETTER (Emerson Gallery, Hamilton College, vol. 1, no. 2 February 1989, "Acquisitions").

Signature Signed "Moore [underlined]" at lower right in pencil.

Inscribed "PL. XI 10/100" at lower left in pencil.