‘All my works have implied, to some degree or another, a spectator moving along them or around them….They’re like roads, but certainly not fixed point vistas. I think sculpture should have an infinite point of view.’ —Carl Andre

Executed in 1990 and constituting of 6 Belgian blue limestone cubes spaced by 5 tin slabs, Belgica Tin Train typifies Carl Andre’s sustained and lifelong commitment to the principles of Minimalism in his practice. Often consisting of found, industrial materials and arranged with absolute, geometric precision and meticulous simplicity, his three-dimensional works such as this are widely considered to have altered the course of the history of sculpture by defining the visual language of American Minimalism. Positioned directly on the floor, the work inevitably interacts with both its physical surroundings and the viewer, its form altering and shifting as the viewer’s perspective changes from different positions. In doing so, Andre uses real space as a medium, creating a perceptual transformation of an inherently physical and substantial object.

Andre, who passed away earlier this year in January 2024, was a pioneering central figure in American art since the 1960s, and his work can be found in public collections around the world including the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo; the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Tate Modern, London; and the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris.