About the Artwork

Aurora was made using a tank which was originally a floating buoy used as an anchoring point for ships in the ocean – it came from a naval salvage dealer In Portsmouth.  Anthony Caro fell in love with it brought it to the studio where it sat for three years before he finally formed it into a sculpture.  He had never used anything so large or volumetric before.  The two elements at the bottom were rolled elements to make them feel like waves. He tried several colours before his painter wife Sheila Girling eventually came up with the idea of that vibrant red.

Year: 2002/2003


Courtesy of Barford Sculptures. Photo © Nick Turpin

Material

Steel, painted red

Dimensions

265 x 523 x 308 cm

Artist Biography

Anthony Caro

Anthony Caro (b. 1924) has played a pivotal role in the development of twentieth century sculpture. After studying sculpture at the Royal Academy Schools in London, he worked as an assistant to Henry Moore. He came to public attention with a show at the Whitechapel Gallery in 1963, where he exhibited large abstract sculptures brightly painted and standing directly on the ground so that they engage the spectator on a one-to-one basis. This was a radical departure from the way sculpture had hitherto been seen and paved the way for future developments in three-dimensional art.