49 - ANTONI TÀPIES (Barcelona, 1923–2012).

ANTONI TÀPIES (Barcelona, 1923–2012). “Silhouette on Newspaper,” 1999. Print. Edition 29/40. Work reproduced in Núria Homs, *Tàpies Obra Gráfica / Graphic Work*, vol. V, 1995–2011, no. 1569. Signed and dated in pencil. Measurements: 26 x 29.5 cm; 45.5 x 50 cm (paper). The use of newspaper as a background is very characteristic of Tàpies. It is not merely a decorative medium: it introduces a surface laden with language, information, and current events that is partially nullified by the artist’s marks and materials. In this work, the red figure/silhouette, the black lines, and the large central stain create a contrast between legible writing and writing transformed into a visual sign. Initially self-taught, Tàpies took up drawing and painting at a very young age, and during the 1940s he came into contact with the European avant-garde and contemporary thought. In 1948, he was one of the founders of the Dau al Set group. Throughout his career, he held exhibitions around the world, in prominent galleries and museums such as the Guggenheim in New York and the Museum of Modern Art in Paris. His awards include the Prince of Asturias Award, the Praemium Imperiale from the Japan Art Association, the National Culture Award, the Grand Prize for Painting in France, among others, and retrospective exhibitions have been dedicated to him in Tokyo, New York, Rome, Amsterdam, Madrid, Venice, Milan, Vienna, and Brussels. His works are represented in major national and international museums, such as the foundation that bears his name in Barcelona, the Reina Sofía in Madrid, the Guggenheims in Berlin, Bilbao, and New York, the Fukuoka Art Museum in Japan, MoMA in New York, and the Tate Gallery in London.