Antoni Tàpies

ANTONI TÀPIES (Barcelona, 1923–2012).
Untitled, 1950.
Indian ink and pastel on paper.
Signed in the lower left corner.
Accompanied by a certificate issued by the Tàpies Committee.
Measurements: 25.5 x 18.5 cm; 39 x 33 cm (frame).

Created in 1950, this work belongs to Antoni Tàpies’s early period, still closely linked to the imaginative atmosphere of Dau al Set. The composition revolves around a hybrid figure—part fantastical bird, part emblem, and part totemic creature—constructed with a lively, precise, and fluid line. The artist combines India ink and pastel to create an image rich in symbolism, where the organic, the geometric, and the visionary coexist within the same space.

The crowned animal, crisscrossed by diagonal lines and endowed with a dominant eye, seems to emerge from a mental realm rather than a recognizable landscape. Surrounding it, the large open hand, the ears of wheat, the dry branches, the wind instrument, and the boat-like shape next to the signature unfold an iconography with magical resonances: creation, inner vision, transition, fertility, death, and rebirth. The scene thus embodies a surrealist sensibility, characteristic of the years when Tàpies explored a universe of apparitions, metamorphoses, and personal symbols.

The ink defines rhythms, structures, and tensions; the pastel, applied in specific areas of green, red, and blue, introduces a subtle chromatic vibration that accentuates the image’s enigmatic character. The reddish stain at the center of the hand can be interpreted as a vital core, a wound, or a talisman, reinforcing the ritual dimension that permeates the composition. In this work, Tàpies does not depict a scene but rather evokes a world of his own, situated between symbol, ritual, and inner vision.

Dated 1950, the piece belongs to a particularly significant period in his career, preceding the full development of his material language but already revealing many of his later recurring themes: the sign, the imprint, the surface as an active field, and the image understood as a presence steeped in mystery.

Antoni Tàpies was one of the key figures in postwar European art. A co-founder of Dau al Set, he developed a unique artistic language linked to Informalism, materiality, the sign, and the spirituality of everyday life. His work is represented in institutions such as the Fundació Antoni Tàpies, the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, the Museo Reina Sofía, MoMA in New York, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, and the Tate in London.