Anthony Caro was an English sculptor who worked primarily with metal, using both fabricated pieces and industrial scrap to produce large-scale artworks. Though Caro got his start in modernist sculpture studying under Henry Moore in the 1950s, he quickly moved into producing his own abstract sculptures, for which he was lauded during his career. 

Caro’s sculpture studio was made for the production of large-scale works, like, perhaps, those of Richard Serra. The studio space looks almost spooky in this photo, with dark, shadowy lighting over the numerous jutting, jagged forms of scrap metal behind the artist and receding into the distance like strange trees or alien artefacts. The space is massive and cluttered -- I wonder if these pieces are sketches, mockups, prototypes, or simple scrap that would later be repurposed into full-scale artworks. 

The artist is working with another person in this photo, apparently focusing on the construction on the table in the foreground of the image. Though the space looks relatively deserted I can imagine it would have been quite loud on a daily basis, full of the sounds of sawing, hammering, and welding the metal into Caro’s signature geometric compositions. Later in his career, it’s likely that Caro would have employed assistants to help him build and plan his works.

Caro passed away in 2013 after a long and prolific career. The artist was knighted in 1987, and received numerous awards for his artwork during his lifetime. Caro’s works remain in both private and museum collections, as well as public spaces, around the world.

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