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Sculptor Sir Anthony Caro dies
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Author:  paulzolo [ Thu Oct 24, 2013 12:40 pm ]
Post subject:  Sculptor Sir Anthony Caro dies
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Quote:
British sculptor Sir Anthony Caro has died of a heart attack at the age 89, his family has confirmed.

Sir Anthony was widely regarded as the greatest British sculptor of his generation and worked as an assistant to Henry Moore in the 1950s.

Tate director Sir Nicholas Serota called him "one of the outstanding sculptors of the past 50 years".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-24654484

Funny story - when I was studying art in the early 1990s, the group I was in went to the Tate Gallery in London (it’s called Tate Britain now) to see some of his work. He was there. OK, so we didn’t go to talk to him, but I know the tutor we went with a nervous because we’d just had a heated debate about modern art, whether is was any good, and Caro’s work was one which was being discussed (tut - people who only like figurative work, etc.). Basically, some people saw it as a load of scrap metal welded together and didn’t really want to go much further. The fear was that they’d button hole him and ask him to justify what he was doing. It didn’t happen, but I know it was the cause for concern.

There is some of his work near Liverpool Station in London, if you are keen on monolithic slabs of metal.
Author:  Paul1965 [ Thu Oct 24, 2013 1:26 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Sculptor Sir Anthony Caro dies
paulzolo wrote:
Basically, some people saw it as a load of scrap metal welded together and didn’t really want to go much further. The fear was that they’d button hole him and ask him to justify what he was doing. It didn’t happen, but I know it was the cause for concern.


They should have questioned him and perhaps gained an appreciation of what he was trying to achieve. Or not. For what it's worth I don't care for his work at all but on a couple of occasions learning about the motivation for an artist's work can change your viewpoint. Back when the South Bank Show was on ITV (yes, really) Melvyn Bragg did a programme about Bjork who was regarded as ridiculous at the time due to her bizarre vocal style. Me included....I thought she sounded like a fax machine. But the documentary explored Bjork's Icelandic roots and the way that a native singing style had been developed for songwriting and storytelling and that was the heritage she was drawing upon. Since then I don't always like her work but I do get where she's coming from and don't dismiss it out of hand.

I used to be someone who preferred figurative artwork but went to a Royal Academy exhibition about Vincent Van Gogh and his brother, and the show not only featured the paintings but correspondence between the two, sketches, etc and I came away with a real appreciation for Van Gogh's work which hadn't really been there before. After that, the studied figurative work seemed dull and lifeless.

I would like an opportunity to ask Tracy Emin - who is Professor of Drawing at the Royal Academy ( :shock: ) - how she has made such a name for herself with little discernible talent that I can see. She is still making a very decent amount of money thankyouverymuch from her work but only due to the notoriety of her early headline-grabbing efforts.
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