Shelter Scene: Two Swathed Figures

Henry Spencer Moore 1898 - 1986

Summary

Seen against the backdrop of a brick wall are the forms of two seated figures, one with a child, wrapped in blankets. Their bodies have become oversized and are only recognisable as people by the indistinct shapes of their heads peering through openings in their blankets. The left figure carries a child in its arms and turns its head to the left to gaze at it; the right figure appears to be looking directly ahead. The blankets create the impression of weighty, solid and protective shells and this idea is reinforced, particularly in the figure on the right, by the resemblance of the forms created by the folds and openings in the blankets, to the mouth of a shell and the grooves that run around the exterior.