XL

"It's been a hectic week, busy downtown, and especially exciting, as Tony's trade sculpture arrived [...] of course, we loved it, but where to put it? It can't possibly go on the mantle where it was made for. Tony drew a sketch as to how it was to go. So we drove it home. And by God, it is on the mandle, and beautiful! [...] We are so pleased! Just have to watch the grandchildren, they could pull it over easily." (Jack Bush, in a letter to Clement Greenberg, 29 September 1967).

Originally in the collection of fellow artist Jack Bush, XL is a quintessential example of Caros' idiosyncratic and celebrated 'Table Pieces.' Caro’s decision in 1960, to do-away with the plinth and place his works directly on the floor, changed the face of sculpture. His decision in 1966, to begin a series of works that would stand, or in some cases balance, on a table, was not a rejection of these principles but instead an extension of them. The earliest examples, such as the present work, all contain elements that extend below the horizontal plane of the table edge and as a consequence cannot be displayed on the floor. As Jack Bush writes in his letter to the famed critic Clement Greenberg in 1967, these sculptures interact with the tables that support them, creating a dialogue with the viewer as they extend into their space. They are the antithesis of traditional sculpture that rests placidly in the middle of a plinth, offered up for humble contemplation.

In contrast to Caro’s large scale floor sculptures, his ‘Table Series’ was intended to be relatable on a human scale. The earliest examples from this series have elegant lacquered finishes and inconspicuous welded joins that create a jewel-like quality. The purple-red lacquer used for XL enhances this and at the same time produces a palpable energy. H.F. Westley Smith comments on the earliest examples within this series, ‘These are not grand gestures, but suggestions and terse statements, sculptural epigrams that tease us into thought. Theirs is an expression of a light spirit, of an abstraction that remains otherworldly but nevertheless ‘within easy reach’’ (H.F. Westley Smith, Anthony Caro Small Sculptures, Farnham, 2010, p. 14).