Antoni TÃ pies i Puig, 1st
Marquess of Tápies (; 13 December 1923 – 6 February 2012) was a
Catalan painter, sculptor and art theorist, who became one of the most famous European artists of his generation.
Life
The son of Josep TÃ pies i Mestre and Maria Puig i Guerra, Antoni TÃ pies Puig was born in Barcelona on 13 December 1923. His father was a lawyer and
Catalan nationalist
Catalan nationalism is the ideology asserting that the Catalans are a distinct nation.
Intellectually, modern Catalan nationalism can be said to have commenced as a political philosophy in the unsuccessful attempts to establish a federal state i ...
who served briefly with the Republican government. Due to this, Tà pies grew up in an environment where he was very much exposed to a cultural and social experiences of leaders in the Catalan public life and its republicanism. His maternal grandmother also exposed him to this world with her great involvement in civil and political activities. Tà pies was first introduced to contemporary art as he entered secondary school in 1934. He saw a famous Christmas issue of the magazine, D’acà i d’allà , which contained reproductions of works by artists such as Duchamp, Braque, Kandinsky, and Picasso. At 17, Tà pies suffered a near-fatal
heart attack
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...
caused by tuberculosis. He spent two years as a convalescent in the mountains, reading widely and pursuing an interest in art that had already expressed itself when he was in his early teens.
TÃ pies studied at the
German School of Barcelona
The German School of Barcelona (german: Deutsche Schule Barcelona, es, Colegio Alemán Barcelona, ca, Col·legi Alemany de Barcelona) is a German international school in Esplugues de Llobregat, Catalonia, Spain, in the Barcelona metropolitan area ...
. After studying law for 3 years, he devoted himself from 1943 onwards only to his painting. In 1945 TÃ pies began experimenting with more rinse materials. He would mix oil paint with whiting. At this time he also became increasingly interested in philosophy, especially that of Sartre as well as Eastern thought. He became known as one of Spain's most renowned artists in the second half of the 20th century. His abstract and avant-garde works were displayed in many major museums all over the world.
In 1954 TÃ pies married Teresa Barba Fabregas. Together they had three children Antoni, Miguel and Clara.
He lived mainly in Barcelona. TÃ pies died on 6 February 2012; his health had been suffering since 2007.
Work
TÃ pies was perhaps the best-known Spanish (Catalan) artist to emerge in the period since the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
. He first came into contact with contemporary art as a teenager through the magazine ''D’Acà i D’Allà '', published in Barcelona, and during the Spanish Civil War (1936–39), while he was still at school, he taught himself to draw and paint.
[Antoni TÃ pies](_blank)
MoMA Collection, New York. On a French government scholarship in the early 1950s he lived in Paris, to which he often returned. Both in Europe and beyond, the highly influential French critic and curator
Michel Tapié
Michel Tapié (full name: Michel Tapié de Céleyran; 26 February 1909 – 30 July 1987) was a French art critic, curator, and collector. He was an early and influential theorist and practitioner of "tachisme", a French style of abstract painti ...
enthusiastically promoted the work of Antoni TÃ pies.
In 1948, TÃ pies helped co-found the first Post-War Movement in Spain known as ''
Dau al Set'' which was connected to the
Surrealist
Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to ...
and
Dadaist
Dada () or Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century, with early centres in Zürich, Switzerland, at the Cabaret Voltaire (in 1916). New York Dada began c. 1915, and after 1920 Dada flourished in Paris ...
Movements. The main leader and founder of ''Dau al Set'' was the poet
Joan Brossa. The movement also had a publication of the same name, ''Dau al Set''. TÃ pies started as a surrealist painter, his early works were influenced by
Paul Klee
Paul Klee (; 18 December 1879 – 29 June 1940) was a Swiss-born German artist. His highly individual style was influenced by movements in art that included expressionism, cubism, and surrealism. Klee was a natural draftsman who experimented ...
and
Joan Miró; but soon become an
informal
Formal, formality, informal or informality imply the complying with, or not complying with, some set of requirements (forms, in Ancient Greek). They may refer to:
Dress code and events
* Formal wear, attire for formal events
* Semi-formal attir ...
artist, working in a style known as ''pintura matèrica'', in which non artistic materials are incorporated into the paintings. In 1953 he began working in mixed media; this is considered his most original contribution to art. One of the first to create serious art in this way, he added clay and marble dust to his paint and used waste paper, string, and rags (Grey and Green Painting, Tate Gallery, London, 1957). ''Canvas Burned to Matter'' from c. 1960, in the collection of the
Honolulu Museum of Art
The Honolulu Museum of Art (formerly the Honolulu Academy of Arts) is an art museum in Honolulu, Hawaii. The museum is the largest of its kind in the state, and was founded in 1922 by Anna Rice Cooke. The museum has one of the largest single co ...
, is an example of the artist's
mixed media
In visual art, mixed media describes artwork in which more than one medium or material has been employed.
Assemblages, collages, and sculpture are three common examples of art using different media. Materials used to create mixed media art incl ...
assemblages that combine the principles of
Dada
Dada () or Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century, with early centres in Zürich, Switzerland, at the Cabaret Voltaire (in 1916). New York Dada began c. 1915, and after 1920 Dada flourished in Pari ...
and
Surrealism.
TÃ pies' international reputation was well established by the end of the 1950s. From the late 1950s to early 1960s, TÃ pies worked with
Enrique Tábara,
Antonio Saura,
Manolo Millares
Manolo Millares (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, 17 January 1926 – Madrid, 14 August 1972) was a Spanish painter.
Biography
Self-taught as an artist, Millares was introduced to Surrealism in 1948. In 1953, he moved to Madri ...
and many other Spanish Informalist artists. In 1966 he was arrested at a clandestine assembly at the
University of Barcelona
The University of Barcelona ( ca, Universitat de Barcelona, UB; ; es, link=no, Universidad de Barcelona) is a public university located in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia, in Spain. With 63,000 students, it is one of the biggest universities i ...
; his work of the early 1970s is marked by symbols of Catalan identity (which was anathema to
Franco
Franco may refer to:
Name
* Franco (name)
* Francisco Franco (1892–1975), Spanish general and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975
* Franco Luambo (1938–1989), Congolese musician, the "Grand Maître"
Prefix
* Franco, a prefix used when ref ...
). In 1974 he made a series of lithographs called ''Assassins'' and displayed them in the
Galerie Maeght
The Galerie Maeght is a gallery of modern art in Paris, France, and Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The gallery was founded in 1936 in Cannes. The Paris gallery was started in 1946 by Aimé Maeght. The artists exhibited are mainly from France and Spa ...
in Paris, in honour of regime critic
Salvador Puig Antich's memory. From about 1970 (influenced by
Pop art) he began incorporating more substantial objects into his paintings, such as parts of furniture. TÃ pies's ideas have had worldwide influence on art, especially in the realms of painting, sculpture, etchings and lithography. Examples of his work are found in numerous major international collections. His work is associated with both
Tachisme
__NOTOC__
Tachisme (alternative spelling: Tachism, derived from the French word ''tache'', stain) is a French style of abstract painting popular in the 1940s and 1950s. The term is said to have been first used with regards to the movement in 19 ...
and
Abstract Expressionism.
The paintings produced by TÃ pies, later in the 1970s and in the 1980s, reveal his application of this aesthetic of meditative emptiness, for example in spray-painted canvases with linear elements suggestive of Oriental calligraphy, in mixed-media paintings that extended the vocabulary of Art informel, and in his oblique allusions to imagery within a fundamentally abstract idiom, as in ''Imprint of a Basket on Cloth'' (1980).
Among the artists' work linked in style to that of TÃ pies is that of the American painter
Julian Schnabel
Julian Schnabel (born October 26, 1951) is an American painter and filmmaker. In the 1980s, he received international attention for his "plate paintings" — with broken ceramic plates set onto large-scale paintings. Since the 1990s, he has been ...
as both have been connected to the art term "Matter".
Graphic work
From 1947 TÃ pies also produced
graphic work. He produced collector’s books and dossiers in association with poets and writers such as Alberti, Bonnefoy, Du Bouchet, Brodsky, Brossa, Daive, Dupin, Foix, Frémon, Gimferrer, Guillén, Jabès, Mestres Quadreny, Mitscherlich, Paz, Saramago, Takiguchi, Ullán, Valente and Zambrano.
Essays
Tà pies has written essays which have been collected in a series of publications, some translated into different languages: ''La prà ctica de l’art'' (1970), ''L’art contra l’estètica'', (1974), ''Memòria personal'' (1978), ''La realitat com a art'' (1982), ''Per un art modern i progressista'' (1985), ''Valor de l’art (1993)'' and ''L’art i els seus llocs'' (1999). These works include Tà pies reflecting on things such as art, life, and politics. He also discusses the social role of art and the artist, reflects on the influences of his work, and explains his artistic as well as political views.
Movements
Throughout the span of his life Antoni Tà pies has been associated with a number movements such as Art Informel and Haute Pâte or Matter Painting. He became a part of the avant-garde group Dau al Set in 1948 which was a group that had strong ties to Surrealism. Early works of his were surrealistic, but in 1953 he began working in abstract art. It is here that he becomes a part of the Art Informel movement and starts working with mixed media. Art Informel in Europe was the equivalent to Abstract Expressionism in America. This was among the most prevalent styles of art in post-war Europe. Within this movement is the category of Matter Painting. Its focus on the use of odd objects completely undermines the acts of traditional fine art. Some of Tà pies's most famous and original works fall within this genre. They are characterized by his use of marble dust and clay that he mixed with his paints as well as the incorporation of found objects such as string, paper, and cloth. In the late 1960s into the early 1970s Tà pies began to be influenced by the movement of Pop Art. Because of this he began using larger items, such as pieces of furniture, in his works.
Exhibitions
* In 1950, TÃ pies' first solo show was held at the Galeries Laietanes, Barcelona, and he was included in the
Carnegie International in Pittsburgh.
[Antoni TÃ pies](_blank)
Guggenheim Collection.
* In 1953 he had his first shows in the United States, at the Marshall Field Art Gallery in Chicago and the
Martha Jackson Gallery in New York.
* In 1962 he was given the opportunity to have a Guggenheim Retrospective.
[Katz, V. (2007). Antoni TÃ pies at PaceWildenstein. Art In America, 95(1), 138.]
* Some of his other retrospectives were presented at the
Musée National d'Art Moderne
The Musée National d'Art Moderne (; "National Museum of Modern Art") is the national museum for modern art of France. It is located in Paris and is housed in the Centre Pompidou in the 4th arrondissement of the city. In 2021 it ranked 10th in t ...
, Paris, in 1973 and at the
Albright-Knox Art Gallery
The Buffalo AKG Art Museum, formerly known as the Albright–Knox Art Gallery, is an art museum at 1285 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, New York, in Delaware Park. the museum's Elmwood Avenue campus is temporarily closed for construction. It hosted e ...
, Buffalo, New York, in 1977.
* Later he was the subject of retrospective exhibitions at the
Jeu de Paume
''Jeu de paume'' (, ; originally spelled ; ), nowadays known as real tennis, (US) court tennis or (in France) ''courte paume'', is a ball-and-court game that originated in France. It was an indoor precursor of tennis played without racquets, a ...
in Paris in 1994.
*
Kestnergesellschaft
Kestner Gesellschaft (Kestner Society) is an art institution in Hanover, Germany, founded in 1916 to promote the arts. Its founders included the painter Wilhelm von Debschitz (1871–1948). The association blossomed under the management of and , ...
in Hannover in 1998.
* In New York, 2000, he had an exhibition at the Pace Wildenstein which consisted of multimedia paintings as well as small bronzes and assemblages.
* The
Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina SofÃa
The ''Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina SofÃa'' ("Queen SofÃa National Museum Art Centre"; MNCARS) is Spain's national museum of 20th-century art. The museum was officially inaugurated on September 10, 1992, and is named for Queen SofÃa. It ...
in Madrid in 2000, and was exhibited at the
Anita Shapolsky Gallery
The Anita Shapolsky Gallery is an art gallery that was founded in 1982 by Anita Shapolsky. It is currently located at 152 East 65th Street, on Manhattan's Upper East Side, in New York City.
The gallery specializes in 1950s and 1960s abstract e ...
in New York City in 2006, 2012, and 2014.
* In 2007 at the age of 83, TÃ pies had an exhibition at Pace Wildenstein where he showed 17 paintings done on wood as well as canvas.
*In 2017,
Nahmad Contemporary in New York presented the exhibition ''Tà pies: Paintings, 1970–2003''.
'Antoni Tà pies. Objects'. Until February, 2018 at Fundació Antoni Tà pies museum, Barcelona
Legacy
The Antoni TÃ pies Foundation or
Fundació Antoni Tà pies is a museum and cultural center located in Carrer d'Aragó, in Barcelona, Catalonia that is dedicated to the works and life of Antoni Tà pies. It was established in 1984 by Tà pies himself. His intent was to create a forum that would promote the study as well as the knowledge of modern and contemporary art. It includes the temporary exhibitions, film seasons, lectures, symposiums, as well as different activities and showings of Tà pies's work. The foundation owns one of the most extensive collections of Tà pies's work, mostly donated by Tà pies himself. It also contains a large library that is dedicated solely to the artists of our century and the modern literature and documentation pertaining to the genre.
Recognition
* TÃ pies was awarded in 1958 the First Prize for painting at the Pittsburgh International, and the UNESCO and David E. Bright Prizes at the
Venice Biennale
The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...
.
* In 1958 TÃ pies, along with Eduardo Chillida, represented Spain in the Venice Biennale.
[
* He received the Rubens Prize of Siegen, Germany, in 1972.]
* In the Academic Sphere, he received an Honorary Doctorate from the Rovira i Virgili University in 1994.
* In 2003 Tà pies won Spain's most prestigious art award, the Velázquez prize.
* On 9 April 2010, he was raised into the Spanish nobility
Spanish nobles are persons who possess the legal status of hereditary nobility according to the laws and traditions of the Spanish monarchy and historically also those who held personal nobility as bestowed by one of the three highest orders of ...
by King Juan Carlos I with the hereditary title of ''Marqués de Tápies'' (Marquess of Tà pies)Real Decreto 433/2010
– Website BOE (English: Marquess of Tà pies).
* Furthermore, he designed Rovira i Virgili University’s logo, which is characterized by the letter "a", symbol of universal’s knowledge principle.
Gallery of works
File:Fundació Tà pies 03 - Els Solcs (1952) Oli sobre tela.JPG, Tà pies, 1952, ''Els Solcs'', oil-painting
File:Escut font de la Budellera P1180715.JPG, TÃ pies, 1971, ''Escut font de la Budellera'', sculpture / relief
File:Fundació Tà pies 02.JPG, Tà pies, 1971, ''Pantalons sobre vestidor / Trousers on stretchers'', textile on the backside of a stretched canvas
File:Homenatge a Picasso - Obra d'Antoni Tà pies.JPG, Tà pies, 1982–83, ''Homage to Picasso / Homenatge a Picasso'', installation
File:57 Núvol i cadira, d'Antoni Tà pies.jpg, Tà pies, 1990, ''Núvol i Cadira / Cloud and Chair'', tube-sculpture above the facade of the Fundació Antoni Tà pies
File:Sala de Reflexió- Antoni Tà pies.JPG, Tà pies, 1991, ''Conté el DÃptic de la campana'' - part of project 'Sala de Reflexió'
File:Mitjó Tà pies.jpg, Tà pies, 1991, ''CalcetÃn'', sculpture
File:MACBA i TÀPIES.jpg, Tà pies, 1993, '' Rinzen'', installation
File:557 Composició, d'Antoni Tà pies, c. Creu 31 (Girona).jpg, Tà pies, undated, ''Creu 31''
See also
* ''
Rinzen'', work by TÃ pies conserved at
MACBA in Barcelona
Notes
References
* Antoni TÃ pies and
Michel Tapié
Michel Tapié (full name: Michel Tapié de Céleyran; 26 February 1909 – 30 July 1987) was a French art critic, curator, and collector. He was an early and influential theorist and practitioner of "tachisme", a French style of abstract painti ...
''Antonio Tapies'' ic New York, G. Wittenborn, 1959.
* Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
''Antoni TÃ pies''New York
�1962Mor Antoni Tà pies*
ttps://galeriaguntrian.com/antoni-tapies/ Antoni TÃ pies art in Barcelona
External links
Fundació Antoni Tapies museum, BarcelonaExhibition: Tà pies. An artist's collection, Barcelona 2015in ''The Independent'' by Marcus Williamson
The UNESCO Works of Art CollectionBritannica article
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tapies, Antoni
1923 births
2012 deaths
Abstract painters
Art Informel and Tachisme painters
Painters from Catalonia
Sculptors from Catalonia
20th-century Spanish painters
20th-century Spanish male artists
Spanish male painters
21st-century Spanish painters
Spanish male sculptors
Dau al Set
Modern painters
Painters from Barcelona
Wolf Prize in Arts laureates
Recipients of the Praemium Imperiale
Marquesses of Spain
20th-century sculptors
Spanish contemporary artists
Honorary Members of the Royal Academy
21st-century Spanish male artists