Anthony Caro
Sir Anthony Caro
Pin Up Flat
1974
Steel
200.5 × 261.5 × 170 cm /
6ft 7 × 8ft 7 × 5ft 7 ins
Price on application
Our chosen Work of the Month is Pin Up Flat by Sir Anthony Caro. Caro made Pin Up Flat in 1974 at the York Steel Company in Toronto. There he was able to make use of the materials and the equipment, which allowed him to make a large number of works from thick, heavy sheets of steel, quickly, spontaneously and often concurrently.
The sculptures from the 'Flats' series have a great physical presence and gravitas through their scale and surface appearance. With them, Caro seemed to be experimenting with just how flat and abstract a sculpture could be, but as Pin Up Flat demonstrates, Caro gave the sculptures a gravity defying lift; the engineering of their asymmetric planes makes steel look like folded paper.
A similar capability with materials is evident in Millbank Steps, in which monumental sweeping shapes belie the intransigence of the steel. Millbank Steps is also sited in the Sculpture Park at Roche Court having previously been the centrepiece of Caro's retrospective at Tate in 2005. It is Caro at his most architectural and allows the viewer to enter inside its cathedral-like interior.
Other examples from the 'Steps' and the 'Flats' series are at the core of 'Caro at Chatsworth' (continuing to 1 July). The exhibition at Chatsworth has been praised universally by the art press and the artist has been acclaimed as a 'Titan' and the greatest living sculptor in Britain.
We are delighted that Caro has also made a body of new work for us in cast and painted resin. Surprising and delightful, 'Anthony Caro: New Reliefs and Standing Sculptures' is in the Gallery at Roche Court from 21 April - 24 June.
Sir Anthony Caro
Millbank Steps
2004
Corten steel
534 × 780 × 2307.3 cm /
17ft 6 × 25ft 6 × 75 ft
Price on application