NO MORE MOORE IN SEATTLE; HIS BRONZE ‘VERTEBRAE’ SOLD

SEATTLE — A Henry Moore sculpture that has stood downtown for several years has been sold and moved.

The 8-ton bronze, “Vertebrae,” stands at the intersection of 4th Avenue and Madison Street.

The sale was criticized by Bruce Guenther, curator of contemporary art at the Seattle Art Museum.

“ ‘Vertebrae’ is a major Moore, and it has been a landmark in the downtown landscape,” he said. “It will be sorely missed by the person on the street as well as art lovers.”

Linnea Hircko, general manager of JMB Realty, which had owned the sculpture, said the firm, based in Chicago, bought the Moore from Seafirst Bank in June for $850,000. She declined to state the price received on the resale, but admitted it was substantial.

Seafirst had paid $650,000 for the piece in 1971.

“We had no intention to sell it, but a client who insists on anonymity made us such a substantial offer senior management decided to take it,” Hircko said.

She would not disclose the sculpture’s destination. However, Mike Hascall, a partner at Artech art movers, said his company would pack the sculpture for shipment to Japan.

Lyn Kartiganer, coordinator of the Seattle Art Commission’s Art in Public Places Program, said the sculpture was one of the best privately owned artworks in Seattle.