Signe i matèria (Sign and Matter) - Bilbao Fine Arts Museum

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Signe i matèria (Sign and Matter)

Tàpies, Antoni

Barcelona, 13/12/1923-Barcelona, 06/02/2012

Mixed media on cardboard

74.8 x 105.3 cm

TÀPIES (bottom right hand corner)

1961

20th century. Third quarter

82/359

Acquired in 1968

In the case of Sign and Matter the textural qualities of the cardboard support acquire a special prominence. On its texture the marks and stains as well as the residues of other matter organise the composition. It was executed six years after Large Oval and reveals some of the traits of the painter¿s evolution, such as his greater self-assurance and sensorial openness, despite his expressive austerity, and above all, the presence of calligraphic elements and the irregular dabs of colour that characterised Tachisme in eloquent balance with pure matter. In these two works this is obvious for example in the different representations of the cross, one of the symbolic obsessions throughout the artist¿s career.

The titles of Tàpies¿ works always refer to the specific formal, iconographic, objectual or chromatic motifs they contain, stressing their materiality, their textual and physical nature. However, the evocative lyrical capacity and the contemplative solemnity that emanate from his oeuvre make it one of the most profound existential reflections in 20th-century art. [J.V.]

Selected bibliography

  • Agustí, Anna. Tàpies : obra completa : 1961-1968. Barcelona, Fundació Àntoni Tapies ; Polígrafa, 1990. vol. II, p. 66, n° cat. 1001.
  • Musée des Beaux Arts de Bilbao : guide. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2014. pp. 190-191.
  • Bilbao Fine Arts Museum : guide. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2014. pp. 190-191.
  • Arte japonés y japonismo [Cat. exp.]. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2014. p. 103, il.
  • Castillo, Alberto del. "El Museo de Arte Contemporáneo en el de Bellas Artes de Bilbao", Goya : revista de arte, n° 101. 1971. pp. 328, 331.
  • Bengoechea, Javier de. Museo de Bellas Artes, Bilbao. Bilbao, La Gran Enciclopedia Vasca, 1978. p. 499.
  • Bengoechea, Javier de. Catálogo de arte moderno y contemporáneo del Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao. Bilbao, Banco de Vizcaya, 1980. p. 113. (Con el título Signo y materia 3 - D. 1961).
  • Informalisme a Catalunya : pintura [Cat. exp.]. Barcelona, Generalitat de Catalunya, Departament de Cultura, 1990. pp. 53, 64.
  • Euskal artea eta artistak 60ko hamarkadan = Arte y Artistas Vascos en los años 60 [Cat. exp.]. Donostia-San Sebastán, Gipuzkoako Foru Aldundia = Diputación Foral de Guipuzcoa ; Koldo Mitxelena Kulturunea, 1995. p. 341.
  • De Picasso a Bacon : arte contemporáneo en las colecciones del Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao [Cat. exp.]. Segovia, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Esteban Vicente, 1999. p. 38.
  • Entre la figuración y la abstracción : arte contemporáneo en las colecciones del Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao [Cat. exp.]. Pamplona, Museo de Navarra, 1999. pp. 36, 98-99.
  • Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao : guía. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2006. pp. 190-191.
  • Musée des Beaux Arts de Bilbao : guide. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2006. pp. 190-191.
  • Bilbao Fine Arts Museum : guide. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2006. pp. 190-191.
  • Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao : guía. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2011. pp. 190-191, n° cat. 135b.
  • Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa : gida. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2012. pp. 190-191, n° cat. 135b.
  • Bilboko Museoaren alfabetoa = El alfabeto del Museo de Bilbao = The alphabet of the Bilbao Museum = L'alphabet du Musée de Bilbao [Cat. exp.]. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2018. pp. 376-377, n° cat. 206.