Anthony Caro

Museum of Modern Art, 1975. Trade paperback. Very Good. Anthony Caro holds a particular eminence as the artist who in recent years has most significantly extended the tradition of constructed sculpture established by Picasso on the eve of World War I. Caro was the first to create large sculptures that spread out along the ground, independent of base or pedestal. In creating these pieces he broke with the 'totemic' conventions of Western sculpture (still adhered to by Picasso and David Smith) in which the work rises to confront the viewer. These consequences were of major import. As William Rubin points out, 'The prevailing horizontality of Caro's sculpture makes available to him configurations hitherto unknown in sculpture. The interrelationships of the 'ground plan' and the vertical structures that rise from it--the rhyming, the analogies, even the puns of this dialogue--open a vast range of choices.' In effect, Caro's approached has enabled him 'to do something utterly new--to work, for the first time modern sculpture, in a non-pictorial, integrally three-dimensional manner.' This internationally esteemed British artist is now the subject of a comprehensive survey that reviews his early career and penetratingly analyzes his mature work, presenting the entire oeuvre to date against the historical background of twentieth-century sculpture. During the writing of this study the author had the benefit of repeated discussions with the artist. The book is not only a masterly introduction to Caro's work, but also a valuable scholarly tool, complete with chronology, bibliography, list of exhibitions, and extensive notes. The abundant illustrations make this volume the most inclusive pictorial record published on Caro's achievement.