Antoni Tàpies

ANTONI TÀPIES PUIG (Barcelona, 1923–2012).
“Peu roig” (Model of the print), 1983.
Carborundum in various inks on irregular black paper altered by the artist.
Printer: Joan Barbará
Signed and inscribed to Joan Barbará.
Measurements: 40.5 x 58 cm; 52 x 69 cm (frame).
“Peu roig” belongs to Antoni Tàpies’s mature body of graphic work. The title refers to one of the recurring signs and bodily elements in his symbolic universe. The work brings together some of the fundamental principles of his visual language: matter, the imprint, the sign, and experimentation with the support. The use of carborundum allows for the creation of rough, dense surfaces reminiscent of the textures of walls so characteristic of his work. Furthermore, the black paper functions not merely as a support but as an essential part of the composition, altered and transformed by the artist himself.
The piece is also of particular interest because it is a proof of a print and because it is signed and dedicated to Joan Barbarà, one of the leading printers of contemporary Spanish printmaking and a regular collaborator of Tàpies. This relationship between artist and printer was fundamental to the development of a body of printmaking in which the technical possibilities of printing are fully integrated into the creative process.
Antoni Tàpies was one of the most important Spanish artists of the second half of the 20th century and a key figure in European Informalism. Initially self-taught, he abandoned his law studies to devote himself to art and, in the 1940s, began to develop a language based on materiality, experimentation, and the incorporation of everyday signs and objects. In 1948, he helped found the Dau al Set group, which played a decisive role in the renewal of the Catalan artistic avant-garde. His international reputation was established in the 1950s through numerous exhibitions in Europe, the United States, and Japan. He received major awards, including the Velázquez Prize for Plastic Arts and the Prince of Asturias Award for the Arts, and his work is represented in major international museums and collections, such as the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the Tate Modern in London. His graphic work occupies a central place in his body of work, as he viewed printmaking not merely as reproduction but as a genuine medium of artistic creation.