Henry Moore sculpture expected to fetch up to £15m

A Henry Moore sculpture, expected to fetch between £10m and £15m, is to be sold at auction for the first time since it was created in the 1950s.

King and Queen has been in a private British collection since it was bought from Moore's studio in 1953 and will go on sale at Christie's auction house on 5 March.

Moore was born in Castleford and studied at Leeds School of Art alongside Wakefield sculptor Barbara Hepworth.

Senior director in Modern British and Irish Art at Christie's, Philip Harley, said the bronze was "undisputedly a masterpiece".

"It's a very moving sculpture, which has got incredible presence. It's arguably his finest achievement in bronze, and, internationally regarded as a very key work in his career," he said.

"One of his biographers said it's his most famous of all his pieces. There are other casts of it in collections around the world, but this is the only one that remains in private hands.

"It's an incredible moment that we can be offering this work at auction."

The bronze is one of four editions of the sculpture and the only remaining example still in private hands – with the others in Japan, the Netherlands and the USA.

Two subsequent casts were produced for the Tate Collection in 1957 and The Henry Moore Foundation in 1985.

Harley explained that small-scale casts of Moore's works often go to auction, but this large outdoor bronze was "an exceptional opportunity".

"It's a museum-quality piece. The other casts of this model are all in museum collections. So it'd be lovely to think it would go to a museum but it could be bought privately," he said.

He added he was expecting international interest in the sale.

"Moore's work has been very well regarded in the United States, certainly in Asia as well, but I think there's some very deep collections in the United States," he said.

"It is remarkable this one was bought 70 years ago directly from the artist and it stayed in the same family since then. So it's got an incredible history."

He added King and Queen was an important milestone in Moore's work, because it marked a move towards placing bronze sculptures in a landscape setting.

"It was like a moment of realisation that his work could then go on to become larger scale and be placed outdoors," he said.

King and Queen will go on display at Christie's in London on Thursday prior to the auction next month.

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