Standing Figure : Knife Edge

Standing Figure: Knife Edge is a bronze sculpture by the English artist Henry Moore. It was cast in two full-size versions: Standing Figure: Knife Edge in 1961, and a larger Large Standing Figure: Knife Edge in 1976. The sculpture also is sometimes known as Standing Figure or Winged Figure.

Moore first conceived the work in 1961. It is based on a fragment of a bird's breastbone, to which a base and a head were added with plasticine. A rounded protrusion forms the head, and the figure has a diagonal line at its waist. The resulting composition resembles a human torso, similar to the Winged Victory of Samothrace. It had been described as the end point of Moore's investigation of upright figures, which started with Standing Figure. He used a similar process, starting with bone fragments, for his 1962 work, Knife Edge Two Piece.