Antoni Tapies - Buy or sell works
13 December 1923, Barcelona (Spain) - 6 February 2012, Barcelona (Spain)
Antoni Tàpies was a Spanish painter, sculptor and art theorist. Alongside artists such as Emilio Vedova and Nicolas de Stael, he numbers among the most important representatives of Informel.
The son of a lawyer, born in Barcelona in 1923, Tàpies originally wanted to take up the same career as his father, but after an accident he found his true calling - art. He was self-taught, with the exception of drawing courses taken at Academia Valls in his home city, and started by copying works by famous representatives of modern and contemporary art: Pablo Picasso and Vincent van Gogh were among his main models. As time went by he developed his own style, along the lines of surrealism. His early works were also influenced by artists such as Paul Klee, Max Ernst and Joan Miró, who was a friend of his. In his eyes, the thought that art should always be connected to politics was central. As a result, he founded the “Dau al Set” group in 1948 alongside other fellow artists from the field of art and literature, and became an advocate for the independent production of art.
He presented his work in a solo exhibition for the first time in 1950 in Barcelona, and over the subsequent decades he was shown at numerous exhibitions around the globe. He spent time studying in Paris, supported by a scholarship, where he used the opportunity to get to grips with the artistic and cultural scene there. This had a permanent impact on his perspective on art, and he used materials like sand, marble or cement to create his works, giving them a relief-style character, similar to a wall. The cross became one of his favourite themes, used in his collages as well as in other pieces. In addition to this, furniture, and primarily the bed as a symbol of the circle of life, represented a key component of his art.
His first essay, entitled “La pràctica de l’art”, was published in 1956, and it enabled him to make a name for himself as an art theorist.
The “Fundació Antoni Tàpies” was set up in 1984, displaying Tàpies’ own works along with those by other artists.
Tàpies received numerous awards for his work, including the 1990 Prince of Asturias award, and in 2010 he received a knighthood from then-King of Spain Juan Carlos I.
Works by Tàpies have enjoyed success at Dorotheum auctions for many years. On June 1, 2022, his painting "Square Snake" from 1991 was sold at a "Contemporary Art" auction for €315,500.