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Hollow tooth' is the nickname of the sculpture on Stadhouderslaan near Kunstmuseum Den Haag. It sounds a bit irreverent for a sculpture by the internationally renowned English sculptor Henry Moore, whose complete oeuvre was and is an important source of inspiration for many artists. But at the same time it is a funny and especially strong characterisation of the bronze with its natural shapes and the hole in the middle.

In 1965, the Municipality of The Hague bought the sculpture for a sum ofNLG 375,000. Large locking piece', completed in 1964, consists of perfectly interlocking parts. It belongs to Moore's so-called bone sculptures. About one of them, 'Entwined piece', also from 1964, Moore said: '[...] The idea came from a sawn-off bone fragment found in the garden with a joint cavity and a joint.

Moore was endlessly fascinated by the forms he found in nature. Bones, therefore, but also pebbles, shells, rock formations and landscapes. And not least the human body, especially the female form. In the 1930s, his typical reclining female figures emerged, with round curves and holes, so simple in form that they resemble rolling hills or eroded rocks.

Openings in the volume, organically flowing lines, simplification of form - these were all innovations in sculpture that had already made their appearance when Moore began his impressive career around 1920. Moore developed his own visual language on the basis of these innovations. He was always searching for the perfect form and striving for perfection in proportion, scale and spatial effect. This also applies to 'Large locking piece'. The ideally shaped elements enclose the cavity in an imperturbable balance. You can look through it, walk around it; the sculpture retains its power and stimulates the imagination in a different way every time.