Upright Motive No.9 is clearly influenced by Moore’s interest in non-Western art. The truncated forms bear a resemblance to North-West American totem poles. This later work, however, is also voluptuous and sensual, alluding to those ‘universal shapes’ which Moore associated with the female body.

Moore’s interest in non-Western art grew out of his frequent visits to the British Museum in the 1920s. He became captivated by ‘world traditions’, particularly African, Oceanic, Peruvian and, above all, pre-Columbian art. At this time, these traditions stood outside the formal art education Moore received at Leeds School of Art and the Royal College of Art in London. He was excited by the strange, totemic and often ritualistic forms, and throughout his career he experimented with similar forms by stacking smaller works on top of one another.

The idea of a series of Upright Motives began while Moore was working with architect Michael Rosenauer (1884-1971) on a design for the English Electric Company Headquarters in London in 1954. Moore created six upright motive maquettes and two maquettes for corner sculptures as integral parts of Rosenauer’s project. Although the design didn’t win the commission, these maquettes became the impetus for the upright motive series.

A subsequent commission for Olivetti in 1955 led to further explorations of organic, upright forms as the ideal counterbalance to the strong, geometric and often horizontal planes of an architectural setting.