Henry Moore’ sculptures are having a spectacular at Kew with Monumental Nature being the largest ever outdoor exhibition of his work. The greatest British sculptor of the 20th century, his works when they are on sale go for many millions.
His story is a fascinating one. Born on 30 July 1898 in Castleford, England, the seventh of eight children, to a father who was under-manager at the local colliery, but self- educated with an interest in music and literature, he was pushed through formal education to ensure he did not end up in the mines. Moore is said to have decided to become a sculptor when he was eleven after hearing of Michelangelo’s achievements though his family were against it, seeing sculpture as manual labour. Injured during WW1 in a gas attack, on getting out of the army, he took an Arts degree.
His wife Irina Radestsky, 26 March 1907 Kiev, in contrast, had wealthy parents, spent her early childhood in Moscow and St Petersburg, lost her father in the 1917 Russian revolution, was deposited with her grandmother in Crimea who died of cancer, leaving Irina, aged 11, suffering terrible deprivation and hunger. Her flighty mother appeared a year later and took her pitifully thin daughter to Paris and thence to her boyfriend’s parents in the English Home Counties, from where she made her way to the Royal College of Art where Henry was the sculpture tutor.
What is striking is that both had strong Mars Pluto Saturn aspects in their charts. Wildly different backgrounds yet a shared experience of deprivation, hardship and fear instilling resilience and a steely determination.
Henry Moore was known for his boundless energy and ‘his striking combination of focus and restlessness’.
He had a Leo Sun which sat on one leg of a talented Half Grand Sextile from a hard-edged, disciplined Mars in Gemini opposition Saturn, sextile/trine Jupiter in Libra and his Sun. His Mars trine Jupiter sextile Sun would give him enthusiasm and confidence; his Sun trine Saturn sextile Jupiter added a balancing seriousness to his actions.
His creative Venus in practical Virgo was in a passionately enthusiastic square to Mars, an intense square to Pluto and an imaginative square to Neptune. The combination of Neptune Pluto, of that generation, was not only ambitious it was also given to psychic or super-intuitive abilities. In Vedic astrology Venus is the significator of the eyes. His daughter describes him as “a kind of human, three-dimensional photocopier”, with a knack for measuring weights and distances by eye and instinct, an invaluable skill in a sculptor who might start with a tiny hand maquette that has to be scaled up to stand 40ft tall in a plaza.”
His Saturn was conjunct Uranus in final degree Scorpio which can be autocratic but can also combine inventiveness with practicality so necessary in creating sculptures. His Moon was late Sagittarius or Capricorn.
Irina, born 26 March 1907 in Kiev, was a Sun Aries square Jupiter Neptune in Cancer with a Leo Moon which would chime with his Sun Leo; with a friendly, detached Venus in Aquarius which would echo his workaholic Venus in Virgo. Most strikingly she had Mars opposition Pluto square Saturn, a hint of her terrifying and deprived childhood. His Mars Pluto Saturn experiences were different but they would understand each other’s mindset. Their relationship chart was replete with Jupiter aspects which would smooth round rough edges.
Henry Moore’s harmonic charts are illuminating with strong creative 5th and 7th harmonics, humanitarian 9th, helper 12H, genius/breaking with the orthodox 13H and global star 22H.
Mars Pluto Saturn does have a resonance with ‘monumental’ at the better end of its effect.
The post Henry Moore – a colossus in bronze ++ Mars Pluto Saturn first appeared on Astroinform with Marjorie Orr – Star4cast.
