Signed and dated l.l.: Moore/81

Black chalk with chinagraph pencil on white paper, 35.5 by 25.5 cm

Literature: Ann Garrould, Henry Moore: Complete Drawings, 1977-1981, London 1994, vol. 5, no. AG 81.326, p. 234, illustrated

“I have always had a great liking for trees, and for tree trunks in particular. I like the bare trees in winter more perhaps than summer trees in full leaf. The trunks of trees have, for me, a connection with the human body – their limbs branch out like arms and legs from the trunk of a figure. For me, too, trees have a definite affinity with sculpture. The immobility of a tree, rooted in the ground, has the kind of stability that I like in sculpture." Henry Moore writing in 1979 (Henry Moore: Drawings 1969-79 Wildenstein, New York (14 November 1979 – 18 January 1980) p.18)

Henry Moore's wonderful tree drawings were mostly made in the last decade of his life - many being made from memory as the artist's mobility decreased. In them, there is an unmistakable echo of the distinctive forms of his most celebrated works in sculpture from the previous half century.

The present work is recorded in the archives of the Henry Moore Foundation (HMF.AG.81.326).