Anthony Caro
Yares Art is pleased to present SIMILITUDES: Color, Form, Friendship, an exhibition that foregrounds the compelling dialogue between American painter Helen Frankenthaler (1928 - 2011) and British sculptor Anthony Caro (1924 - 2013).
Acquainted for the first time in New York in 1959, Frankenthaler and Caro developed an enduring friendship centered on rigorous conversation and mutual respect. For the first time, this exhibition positions their relationship as an active site for creative and aesthetic exchange, bringing together carefully selected paintings and sculptures to illuminate their shared concerns and corresponding intuitions on color, form, surface, material and space.
At crucial moments in their early development, both artists received encouragement from critic Clement Greenberg, helping to orientate them towards a renewed understanding of abstraction as an open, spatial, and chromatic language. Archival letters, postcards, and photographs spanning over nearly five decades (detailing studio visits, artwork progress, and sustained conversations) further reveal the depth of their artistic exploration and exchange. In a 1972 letter Frankenthaler wrote to Caro: “The best part of your letter was the last sentence... How about that plan to make a sculpture together?!!!!!!”. At once playful and serious, Frankenthaler’s remark captures the permeability between their practices and the generative force at the heart of their friendship.
SIMILITUDES is organized with the generous support of the gallery’s major lenders, in collaboration with the Anthony Caro Centre and with the assistance of The Helen Frankenthaler Foundation. A fully illustrated catalogue featuring previously unseen archival material will accompany the exhibition, including an introduction by acclaimed art critic Michael Fried and a new essay by accomplished art historian and curator Karen Wilkin, a close friend of both artists.
