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 “a man of great humility and humanity “ and “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, who divided his time between London and a home on the Purbeck coast, was aware not everyone loved sea music.

Opening an exhibition of abstract paintings at the Seldown Gallery in 1995, he joked to the Echo: “What do you think the people of Poole are going to make of this?”

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

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.

Sir Anthony married the painter Sheila Girling in 1949 and they had two sons, Tim and Paul, and three grandchildren Barnabas, Benjamin and Emma.