Anthony Caro, Duccio Variations No.3, 1999-2000
On loan with permission from the Caro family.
Duccio (active 1278; died 1319), The Annunciation, 1307/8–11
Art in Dialogue: Duccio / Caro – National Gallery London ‘Art in Dialogue: Duccio | Caro’ brings together two works of art made almost 700 years apart: ‘The Annunciation’ by Duccio (active 1278–1319), and ‘Duccio Variations No. 3’ by Anthony Caro OM, RA (1924–2013). 13 June – 18 November 2015.]]>
Source: National Gallery London
This display will be on show during the second anniversary of Caro’s death and has the full support of his family. It was a project close to the heart of Caro’s wife, the painter Sheila Girling, who died earlier this year. It is an important tribute to Caro’s life and work.
Duccio di Buoninsegna, one of the transformative figures of Western art, painted ‘The Annunciation’ sometime between 1307 and 1311, in Siena. It was made as part of a double-sided altarpiece for the high altar of Siena Cathedral. The ‘Annunciation’, which represents the Archangel Gabriel’s appearance to the Virgin Mary announcing that she will bear the son of God, was the first in a sequence of small pictures on the lower level of the altarpiece’s front panel.
Caro’s decision to make work in relation to Duccio’s ‘Annunciation’ was the result of an invitation from the National Gallery in 1999 to respond to one painting in the collection for an exhibition called ‘Encounters – New Art from Old’ (14 June–17 September 2000). The National Gallery invited 24 major contemporary artists to create a new work inspired by paintings in the collection as part of its millennium celebrations. ‘Encounters’ surveyed the history of dialogue between contemporary art and the art of the past, and placed in context the group of works specially created for this exhibition. These included paintings, drawings, sculpture, photography, and video.
Juxtaposed together for the first time, the two works are in active dialogue with each other. Both play with space, movement, and architecture. They challenge the viewer and invite exploration. While Caro’s sculpture functions as a gateway to re-examining Duccio in a new light, Duccio’s ‘Annunciation’ was a starting point for something new and yet recognisably ‘Caro’.
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