Figure

With this work’s protruding, trunk-like front, two small eye incisions, and a surface of mottled gray stone, the sculptor Henry Moore makes a whimsical reference to the form of an elephant. A triangular cleft and a vertically incised line give shape to its stylized body while a projecting rectangular form suggests the animal’s ample hindquarters. Drawing from the anatomy of a living organism, Moore enlivens his abstract compositional approach with references to the biomorphic forms of nature.