Antony Caro

Sir Antony Caro was one of the most influential sculptors of the 20th century, celebrated for revolutionizing the medium by placing abstract steel sculptures directly on the ground without pedestals, fundamentally challenging conventions of sculpture and viewer engagement. Having worked as an assistant to Henry Moore in the early 1950s, Caro developed his distinctive approach after a pivotal visit to the United States in 1959, where encounters with David Smith and Clement Greenberg inspired his shift to welded steel constructions painted in bold colors, exemplified by iconic works such as 'Early One Morning' (1962) and 'Month of May' (1963). His work was exhibited in landmark shows at the Whitechapel Gallery and the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and he received numerous honors including a knighthood in 1987 and the Order of Merit in 2000, cementing his legacy as a transformative figure in postwar British and international art.