Embossed lithograph on BFK Rives hand-made paper (water mark)
Spain, 1962
Antoni Tàpies i Puig (1923-2012) - Catalan painter, sculptor and printmaker
Right below the image signed in pencil ‘Tàpies’; left numbered ‘38/50’
Catalog raisonné number: Galfetti 40
Overall dimensions, framed: 100 x 78 cm
Good condition
Provenance: Private German collection
A signed work of one of the greatest geniuses of abstraction of the 20th Century; Prints by Tàpies fetch up to 59.200 euros at international auctions

This lithograph by Antoni Tàpies (1923-2012) presents an asymmetric composition in gray and black. The picturesque effect of the motif is enhanced by gray blobs of colour, irregular margins and white highlights. Gaufrages and fake shadows give the work three-dimensionality. It is particularly striking, that the material of the image carrier becomes a parameter of content in this work.

In this signed lithograph, Antoni Tàpies (1923-2012) is completely devoted to the informal art. However, the Catalan artist saw himself as a ‘realist’, who wanted to make reality detectable with his works. The non-figural and non-geometric style of the informal art took its origin in the Paris of the 1940s and 1950s. The tension between the resolution and emergence of forms, as well as the colours and materials became the determining image topics.



The lithograph by Antoni Tàpies is signed ‘Tàpies’ in pencil right below the image and numbered lower left ‘38/50’. It is mounted on white cardboard on the top, matted and mounted in a gold wood frame. The work is overall in good condition, showing usual signs of age and wear. The paper is slightly browned and shows traces of the framing, crease marks and minor staining. There are some small blemishes at the upper edge of the paper. The frame shows small nicks. The overall dimensions, framed, are 100 x 78 cm. The sheet dimensions are 76 x 56.5 cm.



Antoni Tapiès (1923-2012)

Antoni Tapiès is one of the main representatives of Spanish Art Informel. In the style of the ‘pintura matèrica’ movement, he mixed materials like sand, cement, marble dust and glue in his paintings, adding letters, symbols and crosses. He taught himself to draw and paint while still at school. Tapiès attended law school for three years, and then studied painting at the Acadèmia Valls in Barcelona. He was among the founders of the art group ‘Dau al Set’, a movement with links to the surrealist and dadaist artists. His interest for philosophy led him to read existentialist literature. Tapiès’s works are represented in international museums and were shown at the Venice Biennale and documenta in Kassel. In 1884, Tapiès founded the Fundació Antoni Tàpies in Barcelona, where he lived and worked until his death in 2012. In 2010, he was honoured with the title ‘Marqués’ by the Spanish king Juan Carlos I.

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