| Three Piece Sculpture: Vertebrae | |
|---|---|
 Three Piece Sculpture: Vertebrae, Perry Green | |
 | |
| Artist | Henry Moore |
| Year | 1968-1969 |
| Catalogue | LH 580[1] |
| Medium | Bronze |
| Dimensions | 710 cm (280 in) |
| Location | Perry Green |
Three Piece Sculpture: Vertebrae (LH 580) is anabstractbronze sculpture byHenry Moore.[2]
The three part sculpture looks back to his earlier multi-part sculptures of human figures, and also his interlocking works such asTwo Piece Sculpture No. 7: Pipe from 1966. Moore started with a plaster maquette in 1968 (LH 578),[3] with three interlocking elements inspired by bones orflints.
He created a second larger plaster working model, which was cast in bronze in 1968 as hisWorking Model for Three Piece No.3: Vertebrae (LH 579),[4] in an edition of eight (plus an artist's copy, which is at the Tate Gallery in London).[5] It measures 94 by 236.3 by 122 centimetres (37.0 in × 93.0 in × 48.0 in). Other casts are held by theHirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington D.C.,[6] theArt Gallery of Ontario in Toronto, andMemorial Art Gallery in Rochester, New York,[7] and theNasher Sculpture Center in Dallas.[8] Others are in private collections.[9] One example was sold at Christie's in 2012 for over £5m.[10]
The working model was scaled up in 1968–69 into a full-size bronze sculpture, measuring 9 feet (2.7 m) x 24 feet (7.3 m) x 10 feet 7 inches (3.23 m) (LH 580). The full-size sculpture was cast in edition of three (plus one for the artist). One example is installed outside theSafeco Plaza (1001 4th Avenue) inSeattle, Washington.[11] It was surveyed and deemed "well maintained" by theSmithsonian Institution's "Save Outdoor Sculpture!" program in May 1995.[2][12] The others are at theIsrael Museum in Jerusalem,[13] and theLandesbausparkasse in Münster,[14] with the artist's copy at theHenry Moore Foundation in Perry Green, Hertfordshire.
Three Forms Vertebrae (LH 580a),[15] also known asDallas Piece orVertebrae, is anabstractbronze sculpture byHenry Moore.[2] It was cast in 1978–79, specifically for a site outsideI.M. Pei'sDallas City Hall, and is the largest version of a sculpture that Moore created in 1968.Moore was commissioned in 1978 to create a sculpture to stand in theCity Centre Park Plaza outside theDallas City Hall, for which he scaled up his 1968–69 workThree Piece Sculpture: Vertebrae (LH 580).[8]
