Antoni Tàpies

ANTONI TÀPIES (Barcelona, 1923–2012).
"Rombe i Xifres," 2002.
Print on paper. Edition 50/50.
Work cataloged in Núria Homs, *Tàpies Obra Gráfica / Graphic Work*. Vol. 5: 1995–2011, published by Gustavo Gili in 2014. No. 1597.
Signed and dated in pencil.
Measurements: 25 x 25 cm (print size); 34.5 x 43 cm (paper size).
This work is part of Antoni Tàpies’s graphic output from the early 2000s and belongs to a series of prints in which the artist combines geometric shapes, symbols, and numerical references. In *Rombe i xifres*, the rhombus serves as the structural element of the composition, while the numerals introduce a symbolic and graphic component characteristic of Tàpies’s language. The artist uses these elements in an open, non-narrative manner, transforming them into plastic signs that acquire meaning through their arrangement on the surface. The geometry of the rhombus is a hallmark of the gestural and material nature of the graphic intervention, creating a tension between structure, sign, and matter. The numerals, a recurring motif in Tàpies’ work, also function as visual elements that challenge the conventional interpretation of numbers and incorporate them into the composition’s abstract vocabulary.
Tàpies took up drawing and painting at a very young age, and during the 1940s he came into contact with the European avant-garde and contemporary thought. In 1948, he was one of the founders of the Dau al Set group. Throughout his career, he held exhibitions around the world, in prominent galleries and museums such as the Guggenheim in New York and the Museum of Modern Art in Paris. His awards include the Prince of Asturias Award, the Praemium Imperiale from the Japan Art Association, the National Culture Award, the Grand Prix de la Peinture in France, among others, and retrospective exhibitions have been dedicated to him in Tokyo, New York, Rome, Amsterdam, Madrid, Venice, Milan, Vienna, and Brussels. His works are represented in major national and international museums, such as the foundation that bears his name in Barcelona, the Reina Sofía in Madrid, the Guggenheims in Berlin, Bilbao, and New York, the Fukuoka Art Museum in Japan, MoMA in New York, and the Tate Gallery in London.