VilaWeb - Diari escola: Antoni Tàpies at the MACBA

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dijous, 17 d'abril de 2025

> The Beginnings: 'Dau al Set'

> Informalism

> A Politically Committed Artist

dimarts, 17 de febrer de 2004

From the 18th of February to the 9th of May 2004, the Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art (MACBA) is hosting a retrospective exhibition of the work of Antoni Tàpies, one of the best-known contemporary Catalan artists.

The exhibition consists of over a hundred pieces, from the 1940's to his most recent work, which allow one to grasp both the painter's aesthetic development and his exceptional originality.

Tàpies was born in Barcelona in 1923, and before the age of twenty he suffered an illness that forced him to rest for long periods at a time, which allowed him to read extensively and to start drawing. A little later, he became familiar with the work of the existentialist thinkers such as Jean-Paul Sartre, who were to have a decisive influence on his life and on his art, as can be seen from the allusions in his work to life, death and the Universe. At around the same time, he also became interested in the mystical work of Ramon Llull, Eastern philosophy and new scientific theories, particularly those of Albert Einstein.

Since then, recognition of this painter from Barcelona has continued to grow. A great exponent of the artistic movement known as Informalism, Tàpies has received numerous honours that testify to the worth of his work, now scattered around many museums all over the world.

+ Webs relacionades dins Nosaltres.Com: Pintura i escultura

The Beginnings: 'Dau al Set'

+ Antoni Tàpies, one of the founding members of 'Dau al Set'.

From the outset, Tàpies showed himself to be an artist that shuns conventionalism. It is not surprising that in 1948, he was one of the founding members of the avant-garde art group known as Dau al Set ('the Seven-Faced Dice'), which published a monthly journal of the same name. This publication was totally against the Spanish painting and society of the time, which had just come out of a terrible war and was struggling to live under a cruel dictatorship. As well as Tàpies, the other founding members of 'Dau al Set' were Joan Brossa, Modest Cuixart, Joan Ponç, Arnau Puig and Joan Josep Tharrats.

Informalism

+ 'Composició' (1955), an Informalist painting.

In the early fifties, Tàpies came into contact with Informalism, and soon became one of its greatest exponents. This genre of painting came about after the Second World War (1939-1945) and is mostly based on the expressive value of the materials used in the work. It was at this time that the paintings of Tàpies began to incorporate a wide variety of materials, forming highly original collages in which he mingled sand, cloth, straw, pigments and so on. This resulted in works loaded with materials, with a predominance of ochre, grey and brown tones, such as 'Blanc amb taques roges' (1954) and 'Pintura núm. XXXV' (1956).

A Politically Committed Artist

+ 'L'esperit català', painted by Tàpies in 1971.

'The social and political situation of my country has always had important repercussions on my work'. These forthright words of the Catalan painter are a testimony to his commitment to his country, spoken in the early seventies, when the country was still living under Franco's dictatorship. This commitment is reflected in his paintings by means of repeated depictions of the four stripes of the Catalan flag and inscriptions of a political tone above the canvas, as we can see in works such as 'L'esperit català' and '7 de novembre', both from 1971.

MATERIALS

Fundació Antoni Tàpies
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Web de la fundació creada per Antoni Tàpies el 1984 amb el designi de promoure l'estudi i el coneixement de l'art contemporani.
Exposicions
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Selecció d'exposicions individuals de l'artista català, de les més primerenques a les més recents.
Recursos
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Recursos diversos sobre Tàpies, amb vincles als museus que acullen obres d'aquest pintor abstracte.
Obres
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Biografia i col·lecció d'obres d'Antoni Tàpies.
Materials didàctics
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Recull de materials de la Xarxa Telemàtica Educativa de Catalunya (XTEC) relatius a l'educació visual i plàstica.
Art del segle XX
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Enllaços varis sobre l'art de la passada centúria.

QUE HO SABIES?

In 1984, Tàpies created the foundation that bears his name, with the intention of promoting the study and knowledge of contemporary art. The Tàpies Foundation has a comprehensive library on the art of the twentieth century and a museum that brings together one of the best collections by the artist.
Tàpies is a very versatile artist, as is proven by his illustrations of literary texts, ceramics, posters, sculptures, tapestries and collages. He has also written numerous articles and has published an autobiography: 'Memòria personal'(1977).
Some examples of the numerous awards and distinctions received by the Catalan artist are: the Carnegie Institute Prize (1958), the UNESCO Prize and the Rubens Prize (1972).