Antoni Tàpies

ANTONI TÀPIES (Barcelona, 1923–2012).
“Spiral on Black,” 1998.
Carborundum-ground. Edition 29/40.
Work cited in Nuria Horns, *Tàpies Obra Gráfica / Graphic Work*, Vol. V: 1995–2011, Barcelona, Gustavo Gili, 2014, no. 1545.
Signed and dated by hand.
Measurements: 48 x 50 cm.
The spiral is a particularly evocative motif within Tàpies’s vocabulary. Its continuous path introduces a sense of movement and concentration, yet it does not function as a representation of anything specific: it appears as an autonomous sign, akin to primitive writing or a mark made on a wall. The form appears at once drawn, inscribed, and deposited upon the surface.
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 Prize for Painting 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 Guggenheim museums in Berlin, Bilbao, and New York, the Fukuoka Art Museum in Japan, MoMA in New York, and the Tate Gallery in London.