Background

India was created by Caro in 1976. The 70’s brought a very political anti-war movement to America, as well as a spread of Photorealism and the shift from minimalism into post-minimalism across Europe and the states. The abstract movement had been on the artistic forefront decades before, but Caro was against abstraction as a concept and was instead making his sculpture works to reflect his own life experiences. Being British, he was surrounded by the School of London art movement. The year India was created by Caro was the height of minimalist and conceptual art together—both of which are categories the sculpture has been put in. The School of London art movement was pushing these artistic movements forward, so it makes sense that Caro would be categorizing his art in these terms rather than as “abstraction”.

Also during the 70s, India was in a very difficult political situation—even said to be the worst and most tumultuous in its history. Their political leaders were corrupt and ridiculous, and the country was in the throes of war. Domestic terrorism was rampant, and the people were revolting against the government.

Research

Anthony Caro was born March 8th, 1924 and died at the age of 89 in October of 2013. At 13 he began studying under Charles Wheeler, who was best known for his architectural sculptures and portraits. Wheeler was honored with a knighthood in 1958, and became the first sculptor to become president of the Royal Academy in London. Caro studied at Christ’s College in Cambridge, studying engineering until he was drafted into the Royal Navy in World War II. After he served he went back to school to study sculpture at Regent Street Polytechnic, London, and then studied again under his former mentor Charles Wheeler at the Royal Academy Schools.

Caro’s sculptures thus far had been “primarily figurative”, until he visited the United States and associated himself with the sculptor David Smith, who was known for being the “most original American Sculptor” for decades after World War II. Caro began teaching in London in 1952 at St. Martins School of Art and stopped in 1979. David Smith and Anthony Caro began influencing each other, and in the 1960’s Caro’s work moved from figurative to abstract experimentation. His works often were welded or bolted together into sprawling shapes constructed from rods, plates, steel beams, and aluminum tubing then often painted a singular color that became his trademark; as seen in his works like Midday (1960) and Blazon (1987-1990) which were both on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2011.

His work was different from most sculptures of his time because he liked his sculptures to sit on the ground, or suspend themselves with forces of gravity rather than being placed on a traditional pedestal, this allowed for the viewer to see them from a different level. In this way his sculptures were still very large, but appeared weightless and fluid geometrically. In the 70’s Caro’s pieces were made from irregular rugged steel sheets, but in the 80’s he brought back his more traditional forms of sculpting, creating semi-figurative sculptures in materials like bronze. Some of his most influential and famous pieces include Woman Waking Up (1955), Twenty Four Hours (1960), Early One Morning (1962), Emma Dipper (1977), Odalisque (1984), Elephant Palace (1989), and the Millennium Bridge (2000).

Sir Anthony Alfred Caro was an abstract sculptor who primarily used metals and other industrial materials for his works. He usually welded metal together to make his works. One of his sculptures titled “Midday” consists of metal I beams welded together. Another one of his works titled “doubled flats” features flat pieces of metal standing in an upright position. A lot of his art seems to tell a story from every angle you look at it. He also collaborated with several architects in London and New York. His works can be found all over the world. Anthony Caro was trying to address the relation of space and form in a way that makes sense to humans. It also relates architectural detail to human scale with different views on each side. Caro, like his mentor, was given the honor of being knighted in 1987. He has also received the Praemium Imperiale prize for sculpture from the Japan Art Association in 1992.

Bibliography

“Sir Anthony Caro.” Edited by Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 19 Oct. 2018, www.britannica.com/biography/Anthony-Caro.

Gover, Karen. “Sir Anthony Caro: 1924-2013.” Artcritical, 4 June 2011.

Members of ACS. “Charles Wheeler (1892-1974).” Artists Collecting Society, 2012.  

“David Smith.” Edited by Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica, Encylopedia Britannica, 19 May 2018.

“Anthony Caro Brittish Sculptor.” The Art Story Modern Art Insight, The Art Story Foundation.

Tate. “School of London – Art Term.” Tate, Tate. December 23, 2014 ISSUE DATE: January 15, 1980 UPDATED: December 24, 2014 18:01 IST.

“India in ’70s: A Turbulent and Testing Decade than Any Other in the Country’s History.” India Today, 24 Dec. 2014.

“Anthonycaro.” Anthonycaro, www.anthonycaro.org/.

Music in video from royalty-free music Youtube channels “Whitesand” and “CandyStock Background Music”

Writers, Producers and Cinematographers:

Raine Westfall, Christian Spencer, and Sophia Anderson