LONDON — Henry Moore’s ground-breaking Modernist sculpture “Reclining Figure: Festival,” commissioned for the Festival of Britain in 1951, will lead the sculpture section of Christie’s 250th anniversary auction, Defining British Art, in London on June 30.
 
Estimated to bring $22/30 million, it will be offered alongside further large-scale major British sculptures by Dame Barbara Hepworth, “Sea Form (Atlantic),” 1964 ($4/7 million) and Lynn Chadwick, “Back to Venice, “1988, which is offered from the artist’s estate ($2/2.5 million).
 
Cyanne Chutkow, deputy chairman, Impressionist and Modern art, Christie’s, said, “’Reclining Figure: Festival’ is one of the great masterpieces of Moore’s oeuvre and is arguably his most masterful and elegant sculptural synthesis of form and space. Privately held in an American collection for almost a half century, this work is a testament to the owners’ discerning and sophisticated artistic sensibility.”
 
Christie’s is at 8 King Street. For information, +44 20 7839 9060 or www.Christies.com.