Joan Josep Tharrats

JOAN JOSEP THARRATS I VIDAL (Girona, 1918–Barcelona, 2001).
"Composition," ca. 1955.
Ink and collage on paper.
Signed.
The paper has some stains.
Measurements: 17.5 x 23 cm; 24.5 x 30.5 cm (frame).

In this work on paper, Tharrats creates a composition of great graphic tension, built through a combination of ink, collage, and cut-out circular shapes. The image is structured around two black discs of different sizes: the larger one, on the left, contains a dense tangle of lines and gestures; the smaller one, on the right, introduces a more orderly counterpoint through vertical stripes. Between them unfolds a network of strokes, dots, and symbols that bring the surface to life.

Tharrats transforms the paper into a space for experimentation, where forms seem to shift like suspended bodies, connected by lines that suggest trajectories, tensions, or impulses. The white of the paper plays an essential role, functioning as an active void in contrast to the intensity of the black.

Joan Josep Tharrats i Vidal was a painter, art theorist, editor, and a key figure in the postwar Catalan artistic renewal. He was a driving force behind the Dau al Set group and magazine, alongside Joan Brossa, Modest Cuixart, Joan Ponç, Arnau Puig, and Antoni Tàpies. His work evolved from an abstraction rooted in Surrealism toward Informalism, with a highly personal language based on technical and material experimentation. His work is represented in collections such as the MACBA in Barcelona, the Reina Sofía Museum in Madrid, the MoMA and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, and the Tate Gallery in London.