Anthony Caro is regarded as one of the most innovative sculptors of the twentieth century. For a short time he worked for Henry Moore but broke with the traditions of sculpture after a visit to New York in 1959. His experience of revolutionary American artists such as Jackson Pollock and David Smith suggested radical possibilities for his own sculpture.

One of Caro’s decisions was to place his work directly onto the floor, rather than on a plinth. This simple act significantly changed the relationship between sculpture and its audience. Rather than standing apart, the viewer is able to interact with his sculpture visually and physically.

Dream City is a structure, or dwelling, in its own right. It is also evocative of a jumbled skyscape and Caro’s work has been shown on museum roofs in New York and Tokyo. The sculpture could represent the artist’s interpretation of the essence of an entire city and its contained human experience.

Associations with architecture were key to Caro’s investigations of form throughout the 1990s. Forum reminds us of a building, and individual elements are reminiscent of domestic objects, such as a table or funnel. A forum is a public square or a place for discussion. In choosing this title, Caro also acknowledges the idea of physical public spaces and the abstract notion of the public arena.

In all senses, Forum captures much of the meeting of sculpture and architecture that Caro has developed in his ‘sculpitecture’.

Anthony Caro worked as an assistant to Henry Moore and was greatly influenced by abstract steel sculpture during a visit to New York in 1959.

Promenade was created for the Tuileries Gardens in Paris and takes its name from the historical fashion for walking in public places to meet, or be seen by, others. The shape of this sculpture further develops the theme as it suggests the rhythm and movements of walking, as well as allowing visitors to walk around and within its structures.

Although perfectly suited to the Bretton estate, Anthony Caro had reservations about putting his sculpture in natural surroundings, believing ‘all landscape is difficult, YSP can be a difficult space because it is big and demanding’. However, he feels that Promenade works particularly well on this site; one of the few flat areas of YSP. Caro’s work overcomes the issues of size in the landscape because he works to true scale, instead of scaling up from models.