Sir Anthony Caro

Sale, Christie's London, 7 June 2002, lot 120, where acquired by the present owner

William Rubin, Anthony Caro. The Museum of Modern Art, 1975, p. 177

Keiji Makamura, "The Last Sculptor." (No Title), 1979, pp. 174-185, 183

Diane Waldman, Anthony Caro, New York 1982

Dieter Blume, Anthony Caro: Catalogue Raisonné, Steel Sculptures 1960-1980, Cologne, 1996, vol. III, no. 987, illustrated p. 213

Marcelin Pleynet, "L'Europe avec et sans l'Europe: Caro et King dans les annees 60." Un siècle de sculpture anglaise, 1996, pp. 195-203.

Dieter Schwarz, Exh. Cat., Anthony Caro: Seven Decades, London, 2019

Paris, Galerie Piltzer, Group exhibition, 1996

Cologne, Kölnmesse, Art Cologne, 30 October - 3 November 2002

Caro began his career in the British modernist tradition, studying engineering at Cambridge and then sculpture at the Royal Academy Schools. In the 1950s, he worked closely with Henry Moore, whose influence can be seen in Caro’s early figurative works. But a trip to the United States in 1959 changed everything. Encounters with artists like David Smith and Helen Frankenthaler, and with critic Clement Greenberg, led Caro to abandon figuration in favour of welded steel constructions. He began using industrial materials and placed his sculptures directly on the ground—eliminating the plinth in a move that brought the viewer into the same space as the artwork.

Air reflects this new approach. Made from welded steel, the work reflects Caro’s shift away from traditional forms toward a new approach grounded in abstraction, industrial materials, and direct interaction with the viewer. Built from rods, beams, and flat panels, the sculpture stretches across the floor in a loosely balanced arrangement. The forms appear open and weightless despite the steel’s heaviness. Caro was not interested in mass for its own sake. “It’s not the mass of the steel but the spaces and relationships that count,” he said. The title Air fits: the piece doesn’t dominate the space like a monument: it moves through it, creating a sense of lift and rhythm.

One of Caro’s key innovations was to treat sculpture more like a composition than a static object. He often compared his work to music, where rhythm, balance, and contrast drive the experience. In Air, the grid-like elements bring order, while diagonal rods create tension and movement. There is no single correct viewpoint. Instead, the work encourages the viewer to walk around it, experiencing changing angles and relationships as they move. The viewer’s body becomes part of the experience.

Caro also emphasized the importance of light in his sculpture. “The essence of sculpture is light—light falling on and defining forms,” he once said. Air is especially responsive to light, with surfaces that cast and catch shadows. The changing conditions of a room—natural daylight, artificial lighting, or the angle of view—reveal new aspects of the form, helping the sculpture come alive.

When Caro’s abstract steel works were first exhibited in the early 1960s, including his 1963 Whitechapel Gallery show, they were seen as a major break from British sculptural tradition. Critics praised his bold use of materials and the way his work challenged conventional ideas of sculpture. Michael Fried called Caro’s work “very human,” noting how it relates closely to the viewer’s own body and movement through space.

Caro’s role as a teacher at Saint Martin’s School of Art in London also helped shape a new generation of sculptors. He encouraged experimentation and questioned old hierarchies, urging students to find their own language. His former students—including Phillip King, Barry Flanagan, and Richard Deacon—carried these ideas forward in diverse ways.

More than fifty years later, Air remains a powerful example of Caro’s belief that sculpture should be open, accessible, and alive in its environment. Rather than tell a story or represent a figure, it offers a direct, physical experience. “I wanted to make sculpture that was in the world but not of the world,” Caro once said. Air achieves that balance. It doesn’t try to explain—it invites the viewer to look, move, and respond.

Caro’s sculptures are held in major collections around the world, including Tate, MoMA, and the Art Gallery of Ontario. Works from this period, especially those that explore space and form as clearly as Air, continue to attract attention from collectors and museums alike. With its clarity of structure, openness, and sense of energy, Air is a key work from one of the most influential sculptors of the 20th century—and one that still feels fresh today.