Sir Anthony Caro, O.M., C.B.E., R.A.

Galerie Wentzel, Cologne
Private Collection, Germany
Sale, Sotheby's New York, 9th May 1984, lot 31

Jürgen Schilling, 'Anthony Caro - Versuch Einer Bestimmung', Table and Related Sculptures, 1966-1978, exh. cat., Kunstverein, Braunschweig, 1979, pp.11-18, illustrated p.209. 
Dieter Blume (ed.), Anthony Caro, Catalogue Raisonné Volume I, Verlag Galerie Wentzel, Cologne, 1981-2007, cat. no.233, illustrated p.209.

The elements of the sculpture appear sound. There is some slight rubbing to some of the protruding edges of the sculpture, and one or two light scratches to the surface. There is some very light surface dirt and studio detritus. Subject to the above, the work appears to be in very good overall condition. Please telephone the department on +44 (0) 207 293 6424 if you have any questions regarding the present work.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
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In 1966, after a rapid rise to prominence with large-scale abstract works constructed from steel, Anthony Caro began making small sculptures which became a long-running discrete series, known as ‘table pieces.' Designed neither for a plinth nor to stand on the ground, but to be raised up and placed on the edge of a horizontal surface at table height, these works were intended to hang in the air and enter the viewer’s space. From the outset the table sculptures were conceived as works in their own right, rather than as maquettes, and were intended to deal with issues and to deploy qualities unique to their scale. Caro’s goal was to make small sculptures whose modest dimensions would be intrinsic to their final form. Often their component parts include handles, tools, objects or implements whose size is recognizably intended to fit into the human hand. However abstract Caro’s sculpture may appear to be, it is always related to the human body for, as he stated in a lecture on Degas, ‘all sculpture takes its bearings from the fact that we live inside our bodies and that our size and stretch and strength is what it is’ (The Artist, quoted in Paul Moorhouse (ed.), Anthony Caro, Tate, London 2005).

Table Piece CCXXXVII is constructed on a human scale. At just over a metre and a half wide it is comparable to the width of a person’s outstretched arms. It consists of metal strips that are drawn into ribbon-like folds, curves and lines, creating a tension between the intractable nature of the work’s material and the freedom with which it inscribes the surrounding space. These movements, particularly given their scale, can be connected with the notion of painterly gesture which implies the trace of the artist’s own physical movements. A curving horizontal band runs the entire width of the sculpture. Two irregular vertical lines and a triangular sheet fall from this strip, while another projects upwards. Linearity, the relationship with drawing and an impetus towards leaner, more reductive means, were the defining characteristics of Caro’s sculpture during the mid-1960s. This work, dating from some ten years later, deepens the artist’s concern with these issues.