Anthony Caro
(1924–)
(–2013)
Anthony Caro
1924–2013
Anthony Caro (1924–2013) was a British Modernist known for his abstract sculptures in metal. However, he also worked in stone, wood, and paper. He studied sculpting at Regent Street Polytechnic and furthered his studies at The Royal Academy Schools in London. His work came into public prominence in the 1960s. Caro’s sculptures often sit at ground level as he believed it allowed for a more intimate engagement with viewers.
In the 1950s, while working as an assistant for Henry Moore, Caro encountered Modernism and switched from his earlier figurative style to create more abstract sculptures.
Caro is best known for his metal works completed with a coat of bright paint, as seen in works like Twenty-Four Hours from 1960. Although other artists had removed the pedestal from their works before him, Caro is often accredited with this innovative idea of having sculptures sit at the viewer level. From 1953 until 1981, Caro taught sculpting at St. Anthony’s School of Art in London, England and led the likes of Peter Hide, Philip King, Tim Scott, and many more.
Between the academic school year of 1973 to 1974, Caro accepted an invitation from York University to be the artist-in-residence. With his assistants at York Steel, the spring of 1974 saw the cutting and creating of works. Over the next year, thirty-five works were created, assembled, reworked, and finalized on the York campus.
In the 1980s, Caro, along with Robert Loder, founded The Triangle Arts Trust (now The Triangle Network), an arts foundation that brings together artists from around the world to workshop, discuss, and push the boundaries of their work.
Caro has had significant exhibitions worldwide, including at institutions such as The Tate Britain in London, The Museum of Modern Art in New York, The Trajan Markets in Rome, The Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo, and various museums in France. In 1987, Anthony Caro was knighted and received the Lifetime Achievement Award for Sculpture in 1997. Caro died of a heart attack in October 2013.