Girl
Seated At Desk

Henry Moore's Girl Seated At Desk (1974) is a print portfolio comprising poignant lithographic depictions of a moment of solitude and introspection. Released in comparatively small editions of 50, Moore's sensitive portrayals of a young girl invite viewers into her introspective world, leading us to consider the complexities of the inner life.

While the female subject across the prints is visibly the same - recognisable by her low-plaited hair - Moore shifts the composition to capture the girl’s concentration from various perspectives. In Girl Seated At Desk II, for example, the girl is pictured with her back to the viewer, heightening our sense of her exclusion and introspection. Elsewhere, seen from the side in Girl Seated At Desk VI, Moore’s perspective shifts to look at her in profile, emphasising her bent-over posture and concentration on her books. Across all the artworks, the sense of the girl’s utter absorption, causing the effect of an almost voyeuristic quality in the artist’s unobserved observation, is dominant. Yet, our exclusion from knowing what it is she is so diligently working on restores balance to the power dynamic implicit in the viewers’, and the artist’s, gaze. Moreover, Moore's attention to detail, particularly in the girl's posture and facial expression, evokes empathy and admiration in the viewer.

Moore's ability to capture the nuance of human emotion and his skill in conveying introspection through his art make the Girl Seated At Desk portfolio a poignant and overwhelmingly human collection of prints. By tapping into universal feelings of introspection, solitude, and the search for meaning, it resonates with audiences from diverse backgrounds. These artworks invite us to embrace our own moments of quietude and to appreciate the depth and richness that can be found within ourselves.