Antoni Tàpies. The Practice of Art

To mark the centenary of the birth of Antoni Tàpies (1923–2012), the Reina Sofía Museum and the Antoni Tàpies Foundation present one of the most complete exhibitions on the artist to date, spanning over 220 works from museums and private collections from all over the world to shine a light on his career between 1943 and 2012. It can be visited from 21 February to 24 June on the 4th Floor of the Sabatini Building.

Through the selected works, many of which have not been shown together for many years, this exhibition highlights the prolific career of Tàpies, once more placing his work and influences in recent art history.

A self-taught artist, music lover and bibliophile, Tàpies wrote and reflected on the human condition, its historical situation and artistic practice, particularly on the limits and contradictions of painting.  His beginnings were marked by the legacy of historical avant-garde movements and his ties with the avant-garde group Dau al Set from Catalonia until the early 1950s.  After that, he embarked on an extensive stage of experimentation with matter, which earned him international recognition.

From the 1960s onwards, he carried out a series of objectual undertakings, in which the matter present in his paintings began to take on the appearance of everyday objects as he used them to create three-dimensional works.  His anti-Franco political commitment also became more clearly expressed in his work. The dawn of democracy in Spain coincided with new matter investigations, the incorporation of varnish and the influence of Eastern spirituality, which gave rise to more refined works elevated with great lyricism.

In his final two decades, characterised by the turn of the century, a sense of nostalgia swept over his work: aware of his advanced age, death and illness became the presiding themes.

Image Credits:

• Antoni Tàpies. Composition, 1947. Scratched oil on canvas. 38 x 46.3 cm. MACBA Collection. Regional Government of Catalonia Collection. National Art Collection. Former Salvador Riera Collection
• Antoni Tàpies. Painting, 1955. Mixed technique on canvas. 96 x 145 cm. Reina Sofia National Art Centre Museum, Madrid
• Antoni Tàpies, Matter in the Form of a Foot, 1965. Antoni Tàpies Foundation, Barcelona. Photo: © FotoGasull