The work of influential 20th century British sculptor Sir Anthony Caro is being celebrated this summer in what has become known as the Yorkshire Sculpture Triangle.

Opening on July 18, the two exhibitions that make up Caro in Yorkshire can be seen at The Hepworth, Wakefield, and the Yorkshire Sculpture Park in West Bretton. There will also be a showing of an open-air work by Caro outside the Henry Moore Institute and Leeds Art Gallery on The Headrow and a family event at the gallery on the launch day.

Caro, who died in 2013 and spent part of his early career as an assistant to Yorkshire sculptor Henry Moore, is known for his brightly-painted modernist abstract sculptures. He often worked in steel and was influenced by architectural forms. During the second half of his career he employed what he called ‘sculpitecture’ to produce works that could be physically entered as well as viewed from all sides. The Hepworth is showing one such piece, Child’s Tower Room, which is made from wood and designed so that children can explore it.

The Yorkshire Sculpture Park is displaying a collection of rarely-seen sketches and figurative works from Caro’s early career, including a bronze portrait of US art critic Clement Greenberg, who was an important advocate of Caro’s work. In the spacious Longside Gallery the YSP is showing early painted works such as Early One Morning, which was originally painted green but is now an iconic red - the change was made after fellow artist Sheila Girling suggested it.

Outside in the parklands the YSP is erecting a series of monumental Caro sculptures, including the intriguing Promenade from 1996.

The Hepworth is housing a collection of 40 works, ranging from large-scale painted sculptures to small, wearable pieces of jewellery.

In total, Caro in Yorkshire has more than 80 works, spanning six decades, including a number of Last Sculptures created shortly before the artist’s death. And it’s possible to view them all in a day, as the exhibitors are laying on a free Yorkshire Sculpture Triangle Bus, which will transport visitors between the two main venues and Wakefield Westgate railway station. The bus will run every day during the school holidays - July 18 to August 31 - and on weekends from September 5 until November 1, when the exhibition closes.

End of Time by Anthony Caro

While he was born and lived in London, where he was a teacher at St Martin’s School of Art, Caro enjoyed a long association with the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. As the park’s founding director Peter Murray says: “Caro was one of the first artists to support Yorkshire Sculpture Park and was a staunch advocate of the region’s artistic heritage and growing reputation as a world destination for sculpture. It is a wonderful moment for Yorkshire Sculpture Park to work with our Yorkshire Sculpture Triangle partners.”

Lisa Le Feuvre, head of sculpture studies at the Henry Moore Institute, added: “Caro’s importance to sculpture is immense and his relationship to Yorkshire is key in this, from his relationship with Yorkshire Sculpture Park to his work with the Henry Moore Studio at Dean Clough in Halifax in the 1990s.”

Throughout the summer months there will be a number of free events for families and visitors running alongside the exhibition, including a weekend of live music and sculpture-den building at the YSP (July 18 and 19) and a celebratory family workshop at Leeds Art Gallery on July 18.

For details check out www.ysp.co.uk