Lot Essay
Between 1966 and the end of the 1970s, Anthony Caro made three principal series of sculptures: innovative small works that rested on and hung over tables; box sculptures; and a series of medium- and large-scale floor pieces. Floor Piece Gimel comes from this latter group.
During the second half of the 1960s, Caro spent a significant period of time in the United States, working in Bennington and in New York. At the end of the decade he purchased materials from the studio of David Smith. These included triangular forms of steel which Caro welded in concave lozenge shapes and arranged in clusters close to the floor. Regarding these sculptures, Walter D. Bannard has written, "It is one of the symptoms of the great quality of Caro's art, just as it is of Pollock's, that the spirit of Cubism is retained as its features are purged and transformed" (W.D. Bannard, "Caro's New Sculpture," Artforum, June 1972, pp. 59-64). This statement accurately characterizes the present work.
During the second half of the 1960s, Caro spent a significant period of time in the United States, working in Bennington and in New York. At the end of the decade he purchased materials from the studio of David Smith. These included triangular forms of steel which Caro welded in concave lozenge shapes and arranged in clusters close to the floor. Regarding these sculptures, Walter D. Bannard has written, "It is one of the symptoms of the great quality of Caro's art, just as it is of Pollock's, that the spirit of Cubism is retained as its features are purged and transformed" (W.D. Bannard, "Caro's New Sculpture," Artforum, June 1972, pp. 59-64). This statement accurately characterizes the present work.