Antoni Tàpies

ANTONI TÀPIES PUIG (Barcelona, 1923 - 2012).
"El cap", 1987.
Engraving, copy HC 11/15.
Signed and justified in pencil.
Measurements: 98 x 130 cm.(print); 135 x 168 cm.(frame).

Some of Tàpies' plastic inquiries of the eighties converge in "El Cap": numerology and alchemy (progression and sequence coded in the numbers 1,2,3,4), the Greek cross (with its spiritual sense beyond Christian dogma, added to the idea of intersection and personal identity) and the emphasis on zero as a symbol of emptiness and fullness, cycle and eternity, that is, conjugation of opposites. Finally, the calligraphy in black strokes defies legibility to emphasize the texture and the enigma of the text.

Co-founder of "Dau al Set" in 1948, Tàpies began to exhibit in the Salones de Octubre in Barcelona, as well as in the Salón de los Once held in Madrid in 1949. After his first solo exhibition at the Layetanas Galleries, he travels to Paris in 1950, with a scholarship from the French Institute. In 1953 he had a solo exhibition at Martha Jackson's New York gallery. From then on, his exhibitions, both collective and individual, were held all over the world, in outstanding galleries and in museums such as the Guggenheim in New York or the Modern Art Museum in Paris. Since the seventies, anthologies have been dedicated to him in Tokyo, New York, Rome, Amsterdam, Madrid, Venice, Milan, Vienna and Brussels. Self-taught, Tàpies has created his own style within the avant-garde art of the 20th century, combining tradition and innovation in an abstract style but full of symbolism, giving great importance to the material substratum of the work. It is worth mentioning the marked spiritual sense given by the artist to his work, where the material support transcends its state to signify a profound analysis of the human condition. Tàpies' work has been highly valued internationally, being exhibited in the most prestigious museums in the world. Throughout his career he has received numerous awards and distinctions, including the Praemium Imperiale of Japan, the National Culture Award, the Grand Prize for Painting in France, the Wolf Foundation of the Arts (1981), the Gold Medal of the Generalitat de Catalunya (1983), the Prince of Asturias Award for the Arts (1990), the Picasso Medal of Unesco (1993) and the Velázquez Prize for the Plastic Arts (2003). Antoni Tàpies is represented in major museums around the world, such as the foundation that bears his name in Barcelona, the Reina Sofía in Madrid, the Guggenheim in Berlin, Bilbao and New York, the Fukoka Art Museum in Japan, the MoMA in New York and the Tate Gallery in London.