Antoni Tàpies. Collection [2]

The Fundació Antoni Tàpies presents a new selection of works from the Collection that takes as its starting point the work entitled Fusta pintada i rascada (Painted and Scraped Wood), 1960. The work, which is part of the artist’s own Collection, has been lent to the Fundació and will be publicly shown for the first time. Together with the other works in the present selection, the work will demonstrate the importance of materials for the artist.

Tàpies often chooses torn or scraped papers, an unfolded box, a faded tarlatan, or a piece of wood, as the main subjects of his work. In such cases, the artist hardly intervenes, as if wanting to preserve the objectivity of matter, while at the same time leaving his own imprint and incorporating his own language. Thus, we also find the colours, the scrapes, the writing and the gestures that keep reappearing in his work. The selection offers a chronological survey from the forties to the present, paying special attention to each of his creative periods with works that emphasise the supremacy of matter, such as Capsa de cordills (Box of Strings), 1946; Collage del paper moneda (Collage of Bank Notes), 1951; Ratlles i emprentes (Lines and Prints), 1956; the artist’s book El pa a la barca (Bread in the Boat), 1963; Cartó amb T negra (Cardboard with Black T), 2000; and Matèria i cartons (Matter and Cardboards), 2006, among others.