Anthony Caro

Anthony Caro (1924 - 2013) was a British artist who achieved international recognition for his pioneering role in the development of twentieth-century sculpture. While Caro usually worked in welded steel, he also employed a range of other materials including bronze, silver, lead, stoneware, wood and paper.

From 1947 – 1952 Caro studied sculpture at the Royal Academy Schools in London. There he met artist Sheila Girling (1924 – 2015), whom he married in 1949. Caro went on to work as an assistant to Henry Moore and, in1963, a landmark exhibition of Caro’s work was held at the Whitechapel Art Gallery comprising brightly painted, abstract sculptures that stood directly on the ground. These innovations brought Caro public attention, and the way his sculptures were presented marked a radical departure from traditional approaches.

Major exhibitions of Caro’s work include retrospectives at the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Trajan’s Market, Rome; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo and Tate Britain, London. He was awarded many prizes, including the Praemium Imperiale for Sculpture in Tokyo in 1992 and the Lifetime Achievement Award for Sculpture in 1997. He held honorary degrees from universities in the UK, USA and Europe and was knighted in 1987. He received the Order of Merit in May 2000.