The lot drew three phone bidders who carried it over its £1.5m-2.5m estimate and the price fetched was the highest ever achieved at auction for a cast of this work which the artist conceived in 1946.
The 17.5in (44 cm) high sculpture was relatively complex in form and was billed by Christie’s as one of the artist’s “socially-conscious works… offering a poignant vision of familial unity in the wake of the Second World War”.
Although much smaller than Moore’s later monumental bronzes, the work was in fact the largest of a group of sculptures from 1944-47 that act as the forerunners of his large-scale family groups from the late 1940s.
The particular bronze with a green patina was cast in an edition of four with other examples now in the Phillips Collection, Washington DC, and a smaller version held in the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice.
It was appearing at Christie’s for the third time in 30 years, having made £900,000 at Christie's London in June 1989, before then being acquired by the vendor for $850,000 (£538,620) at Christie's New York in November 1995.
Hepworth’s Curved Form
‘Curved Form (Bryher II)’ by Dame Barbara Hepworth that made £2.8m at Christie’s.
Another sculpture subject to a three-way telephone battle was Dame Barbara Hepworth’s (1903-1975) Curved Form (Bryher II) which came to auction having previously been in the extensive collection of Edna and Stanley Tuttleman – the source of 18 works across Christie’s evening and day sales of Modern British and Irish art.
The bronze measured 6ft 11in (2.1m) high (including the base) and featured a green and brown patina and copper strings. Conceived in 1961 and from an edition of seven, it was part of Christie’s ‘Sculpture in the Square’ exhibition taking place within St James’s Square, a short walk from the King Street saleroom.
Estimated at £1.5m-2.5m, it was eventually knocked down at £2.8m which exceeded the £2.41m (including premium) made by another example of Curved Form (Bryher II) which sold in the same rooms in July 2013.
Overall, 35 of the 51 lots sold on the night (69%) for a premium-inclusive £20.2m. The auction was part of Christie’s ‘20th century week’ which continues tonight with its Impressionist & Modern art sale.
