Sir Anthony Caro

Piece LXXXII

1969

Courtesy of Barford Sculptures Ltd

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Not on display

Artist: Sir Anthony Caro 1924–2013
Medium: Painted steel
Dimensions: Object: 445 × 1206 × 1460 mm
Collection: Tate
Acquisition: Purchased 1969
Reference: T01151

Display caption

In 1960 Caro began to make large abstract constructions in steel. Unlike traditional sculptures on pedestals, Caro's stood directly on the floor, like everyday objects. They thus functioned as objects in their own right, rather than representations of other things. In 1966, Caro also began to make what he called 'table sculptures', such as 'Piece LXXXII'. These works do not stand on the floor but rest on a table. They also project over the edge of the table. Again, Caro deliberately avoided using a pedestal because this would have isolated the sculpture from the real world. Caro has observed that 'My Table Pieces are not models inhabiting a pretence world, but relate to a person like a cup or a jug'.

Gallery label, August 2004

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Catalogue entry

Anthony Caro b. 1924
T01151 PIECE LXXXII 1969

Not inscribed.
Forged steel with found steel elements, painted, 17½×47½×57½ (44.5×120.5×146).
Purchased from the artist (Grant-in-Aid) 1969.

One of a series of table sculptures that the artist has been making since the summer of 1966. The table is not to be thought of as an element isolating the work from the viewer's world and giving it a symbolic space like a conventional pedestal, but as providing a physical plane to which it relates in terms of scale and disposition just as his large sculptures relate to the floor.

The artist wrote (20 January 1970): ‘My Table Pieces are not models inhabiting a pretence world, but relate to a person like a cup or a jug. Since the edge is basic to the table all the Table Pieces make use of this edge which itself becomes an integral element of the Piece’

Published in:
The Tate Gallery 1968-70, London 1970