Moore made a number of Helmet sculptures from c1939 onwards and once described the helmet motif as ‘a recording of things inside other things’. In Helmet Head No.1, a protective helmet encloses a separate bronze form, which includes a nose and mouth, suggesting a face. Many of Moore’s Helmet sculptures, such as the first Helmet of 1939-40, relate to a major theme in his work: the mother and child. However, whilst some of his works present this relationship as protective and nurturing, Helmet Head No.1 is rather angular and mechanistic, evoking memories of the Second World War, in which soldiers and civilians alike had used protective helmets and masks.

Moore’s sculpture may also be viewed in the context of his anxieties over the development of nuclear weapons by both Russia and the United States during the early years of the Cold War. Helmet Head No.1 was made just as the outbreak of hostilities in Korea threatened to escalate into a wider international conflict. These anxieties remained with Moore and he would later become a confirmed supporter of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, established in 1958. The Helmet series is also related to Moore’s large sculpture, Nuclear Energy, unveiled in 1967. The work was the result of a commission by the University of Chicago to commemorate the first controlled nuclear chain reaction carried out by Enrico Fermi at the University in 1942.

Henry Moore (1898-1986) was born in Castleford, Yorkshire. He lived and worked in London and Hertfordshire.

The Henry Moore Foundation http://www.henry-moore-fdn.co.uk/