Act of War (After Goya) - Bilbao Fine Arts Museum

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Act of War (After Goya)

Caro, Anthony

New Malden, United Kingdom, 08/03/1924-London 23/10/2013

Oxidised, polished steel on steel base (painted grey)

95 x 297 x 130.7 cm

1994-1995

Late 20th century

01/10

Acquired in 2001

Act of War (After Goya) belongs to a series of sculptures produced by Caro in the 1980s, inspired by famous works by great painters of the past such as Giotto, Mantegna, Rubens, Rembrandt, Manet, and Van Gogh. It is directly related to The Shootings of May Third 1808 in Madrid, painted by Goya in 1814, the formal structure of which is easy to distinguish. This is a highly moving sculpture that effectively evokes the universal nature of the theme of violence and denounces the horrors of war. Thus, the origin of the work lies in Caro's critical stance against violence, death and terror during the Bosnian War (1992-1995) and, like Manet or Picasso before him, resorts to Goya's painting in order to express his anti-militaristic position. Caro employs abstract forms, but of all his pieces based on works of art from the past, this is the one that bears a greater resemblance to its source of inspiration, for the sculptor has preserved one of the painter's most dramatic elements: the contrast between the anonymity of the soldiers and the vulnerability of the victims.

Caro is one of the most influential of contemporary British sculptors. After having trained as an assistant to Henry Moore he explored the more experimental field of iron sculpture, the precedents of which are to be found in the oeuvre of Picasso, Julio González and David Smith. [Miriam Alzuri]

Selected bibliography

  • Golding, John. Caro at The National Gallery. Sculpture from painting. London, National Gallery Publications, 1998. pp. 39-40, n° cat. 43.
  • Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao : guía. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2006. p. 192.
  • Musée des Beaux Arts de Bilbao : guide. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2006. p. 192.
  • Bilbao Fine Arts Museum : guide. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2006. p. 192.
  • Arroyo, Eduardo. Los bigotes de La Gioconda. Bilbao, Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2009. pp. 144-145.
  • Arroyo, Eduardo. The Moustache of La Gioconda. Bilbao ; Madrid, Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao ; Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, 2009. pp. 144-145.
  • Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao : guía. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2011. p. 207, n° cat. 148.
  • Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa : gida. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2012. p. 207, n° cat. 148.
  • Goya : estampas de invención : Caprichos, Desastres, Tauromaquia y Disparates [Cat. exp.]. Bilbao, Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2012. p. 75.
  • Bilbao Fine Arts Museum : guide. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2014. p. 207.
  • Musée des Beaux Arts de Bilbao : guide. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2014. p. 207.