Table Piece LXX 1968

Anthony Caro made "Table Piece LXX" from steel, assembling it like a drawing in space. Imagine the artist in his studio, picking up and placing each element, coaxing them into a delicate balance. I’m really struck by the dialogue between the industrial and the organic; the curve of metal, the shape of half a bowl, all suggesting both the precision of industry and the irregularity of nature. It’s like the conversation you might find in a David Smith sculpture, only brought down to tabletop scale. See how the vertical element, the metal rod, bends ever so slightly? That gesture communicates a feeling of tension. Each piece seems carefully chosen and placed, as if Caro were composing a three-dimensional poem. And that patina, that almost pearlescent sheen, it’s beautiful, isn’t it? Like all sculptors, Caro is in conversation with those who came before, and those yet to come, forever exploring, questioning, and inspiring.