Like many Modernist artists, Moore rejected the aesthetic ideals of Classical and Renaissance sculpture, and instead found inspiration in African, Oceanic, and especially Pre-Columbian art. He also Hembraced the long tradition British landscape art, alluding to valleys, caves, and cliffs in many of his works, as well as the farmland that surrounded his studio.

The reclining female figure was a recurrent subject for Moore, of which this work is an example. As an official War Artist during World War II, he became fascinated with the sleeping and resting Londoners, mostly women and children, taking shelter in the London Underground tunnels. Much of his later sculpture, including Seated Woman, would be inspired by these wartime sketches. Their success allowed Moore to work on a larger scale, and he was able to begin casting many of his works in bronze. He felt that the head was the most significant part of this sculpture. It “gives the rest a certain human poise and meaning, and it’s because I think the head is so important that I often reduce it in size to make the rest more monumental.”