SCULPTOR Sir Anthony Caro, who created the 35ft Sea Music sculpture on Poole Quay, has died.

The artist suffered a heart attack at the age of 89, his family said.

Tate director Sir Nicholas Serota described Caro as ''one of the outstanding sculptors of the past 50 years''.

The design for Sea Music was revealed in 1989, when Sir Anthony launched the Poole Arts Festival.

The structure was put into place in October 1991 to a mixed reaction, with one businessman describing it as “a piece of garbage” but others hailing it as a prestigious addition to the waterfront.

At its official launch that November, attended by the sculptor, the Arts Council’s chairman Lord Palumbo described it as “a masterwork” and said Sir Anthony was Britain’s greatest living sculptor.

The work was intended to evoke the sound and appearance of the cascading sea.

Sir Anthony said: “I sometimes think of sculpture like a concerto – there’s the piano up above and the orchestra down below.”

Sir Anthony was born in Surrey, studied sculpture in London and worked as an assistant to Henry Moore in the 1950s.

He made his name with a 1963 show at the Whitechapel Gallery and his distinctive work, often made of steel, has been on show at galleries including the Museum of Modern Art in New York and Tate Britain in London where his work, Early One Morning, is on display.

A major exhibition of his work is currently at The Museo Correr in Venice .

Sir Nicholas said: “Caro was a man of great humility and humanity whose abundant creativity, even as he approached the age of 90, was still evident in the most recent work shown in exhibitions in Venice and London earlier this year."