Three part retrospective
11th October 2008 – 23rd February 2009

In Calais: Anthony Caro, The Barbarians

The Musée des Beaux-Arts et de la Dentelle in Calais plans to present the large installations of the English artist Anthony Caro, with their very strong narrative, historical and mythological aspects. The œuvres presented in 2008 are recent, giving greater importance to groups and putting the emphasis on the use of more traditional materials, in particular ceramic and wood.

 

Anthony Caro - Black Cover Flat, steel, 1974
cc-by-sa-2.0 license

In 1993 Anthony Caro was drawn to the idea of creating monumental shapes in earth. The work developed with Hans Spinner and the technique perfected by the ceramicist enabled him to produce very large œuvres without the fear of them cracking or fragmenting.
The fifty pieces produced in Grasse for The Trojan War series were linked with metal and wooden elements in London. In Calais, The Towers of Ilion, The Trojan Horse, The Skaian Gate, Nestor, The Death of Hector, Scamander, The Felling of Iphition, Ares, Aphrodite, Apollo, Poseidon, Zeus and Achilles are all on display.

In 1999, The Barbarians succeeded the figures of a monumental series: The Last Judgement. The theatrical setting is no longer that of the Old Testament but of a forthcoming battle. Here again, ceramic, being raw and rough and having retained the scars of fire, wonderfully conveys all the brutality of the episode. Anthony Caro has armed his horsemen with lances and arrows and harnessed the horses and, between 1999 and 2002, he created seven Mongol warriors, all present in Calais: Golom, Sulde, Kharjaar, Jiloo, Saardag, Doroo and Kharsaag

 

Anthony Caro - Dream City, Steel, 1996
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In 2003, he began a new series of 16 sculptures. The reference to reality is increasingly heavy with significance. Thus, in The Kenwood Series we find tables laid and strewn with objects, and a large sculpture, Witness, which refers to Picasso’s L’homme au mouton, the painting by Antonio del Pollaiuolo, Le martyre de Saint-Sébastien, as well as Goya’s last œuvres. Eight of them are exhibited in the museum’s rooms: Aftermath, Banker’s Table, Artist’s Table, Summit Games, Messages, Witness, Provisions.

With this event, the Calais Musée des Beaux-Arts et de la Dentelle is pursuing its commitment to disseminating English art and in particular contemporary sculpture.

 

Anthony Caro - Promenade, steel, 1996
cc-by-sa-2.0 license