Henry Moore’s assistant for more than 25 years, sculptor John Farnham, has installed a new bronze in the South of France.
The 82-year-old artist from Braughing travelled to a secret location near Nice to supervise its placement as part of a private collection.
His client is a long-time fan and asked for John’s advice about where a new sculpture would fit in.
“He has other pieces and while I was on holiday at his place, he said ‘I think there’s a space for another sculpture’.”
John “mocked up” some alternatives and the collector chose his renowned Crescent Figure.
The half-moon work began life as a small piece of jewellery before taking shape as a work of modern art in the 1970s with a wooden maquette and fibreglass models.
Its first incarnation as a bronze was snapped up by Hollywood star Kirk Douglas and his second wife, art aficionado Anne Buydens.
The couple travelled to John’s studio to meet him in 1987 before buying not one but two pieces - Crescent Figure and Bear Form - for their growing contemporary art collection.
Their visit to the home John shared with Austrian artist wife Lotte was brokered by Lady Sieff, of the Marks and Spencer dynasty.
The heiress and philanthropist had already briefed the Spartacus star and Anne on John's pedigree as an apprentice to modern master Henry Moore at his Perry Green studio.
Pembroke College in Cambridge also has an example of the Crescent Figure with another previous casting on show at The Harris Museum in Preston.
John likes to see his work in situ - he travelled to California to see the sculpture in the Douglas’ Hollywood home and had to be diplomatic about a brown wax that had been applied to the metal surface.
The latest commission was no exception. Work began on the project more than six months ago with John supervising every stage.
The bronze casting at a foundry in Leith, Scotland, was critical and cost around £30,000. John said: “It was cast in four of five pieces and then put together rather like a car.”
The pieces are welded and then machined to ensure seamless joints. Then a specialist transport company faced the complex task of transporting the work, weighing up to three-quarters of a ton, across the Channel.
Once the 1.9m (6ft 3in) sculpture cleared French customs and arrived safely in the South of France, a team of six people winched it off a pallet and carefully inched it onto its base in what John described as a “beautiful location”.
His brief to the new owners is to occasionally wash it down to remove any bird droppings but otherwise to let it weather naturally, allowing the sea air to create a green colouration in tune with its lush surroundings of palm and pine trees .
John said: “They all find their patina as they go along.”