The winner of the 1958 Carnegie Prize, Tàpies has had major shows at The Museum of Modern Art (NY), The Guggenheim Museum (1962, 1995), The Museum of Contemporary Art (Chicago), the Musée d’Art Moderne (Paris), the new Jeu de Pomme (1994, Paris; 304-page catalog published Paris: Reunion des Musees Nationaux, 1994), the Hayward Gallery (London), the Louisiana Museum (Copenhagen), the Albright-Knox Art Gallery (Buffalo), the Nationalgalerie (Berlin), and many others. Sir Roland Penrose’s Tàpies concludes by noting that "the ultimate purpose . . . [of Tàpies’ art] is transcendental" and that his "deepest hope is of the transformation of mankind" through his art, which unveils "a cosmogony in which nothing whatsoever is mean." As Tàpies has written himself, he seeks "to remind man of what in reality he is, to give him a theme for reflection, to shock him in order to rescue him from the madness of inauthenticity and to lead him to self-discovery." In a New York Times review of Tàpies’ 1995 retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum in NYC, Alan Riding suggests that Tàpies works show an attempt to "reach ultimate reality through introspection . . . to achieve ‘the ultimate mysterious unity’ that links the entire universe."

Acclaimed by Robert Motherwell as the greatest living European artist shortly before Motherwell died, Tàpies made printmaking one of his central activities and his prints have always been recognized as a major part of his oeuvre; they were celebrated in a retrospective organized by The Museum of Modern Art in 1991 that circulated to a number of museums in the US, Central and South America from 1991 to 1993. In connection with their show, the Museum of Modern Art published Tàpies in Print (a retrospective of his prints and illustrated books, showing about 100 works), probably the best introduction to his graphic works. In addition to our featured work, Llibertat/Liberty, a large, beautiful original color lithograph at a very special price, Spaightwood Galleries has over 122 works (selected from the more than 175 works in our inventory, more of which will be appearing soon on our web site) on display.

Organizing these pages has been interesting. Unlike Chagall, Tàpies does not have separate and distinct themes: all of life, however humble, is interesting to his eye and supplies inspiration to his hand; unlike Miró, whose pages are mostly divided chronologically, Tàpies style seems to have emerged immaculately from his brain, like Athena issuing forth from Zeus, after he turned aside from his early experiments with surrealism. Our solution, with the exception of one page that presents 11 lithographs with the translated text of the poem that was written to accompany them, is based upon size and technique, working from small to large. The selections below are meant in part to give a guide to the kinds of works to be found on the following Tàpies pages and to display some of our own favorite work by the Catalan artist.

The bibliography on Tàpies is enormous and growing: six volumes of the catalogue raisonné of his paintings, three of his prints (Galfetti, in progress), and volumes on his posters and sculptures have been published; in addition to many studies of his works by critics, there are also many volumes published by various museums on the occasion of retrospectives of his works, including (in English) Tàpies in Print (published for a survey of Tàpies' print oeuvre by the Museum of Modern Art) and one by the Guggenheim Museum (on his paintings).

When Tàpies (Spain, 1923-2012) died, Blouin ArtInfo ran an obituary and a slide show, 9 of whose 10 works came from the over 100 on our website. Llibertat / Liberty. Original color lithograph, 1988. Edition: 300 signed and numbered impressions plus 30 artists proofs printed by Galerie Lelong, Paris, for the 1988 Olympic Print Portfolio. The work was never published because the Olympic Portfolio publisher went bankrupt. We have been told by one of the principal creditors that while the prints were in storage awaiting the outcome of the bankruptcy proceedings, many of the prints were ruined by water damage. All of our impressions, however, are in excellent condition. Image size: 892x590mm. Price: Please call or email for current pricing information.

For more large lithographs in a vertical format, please click here.

El pa a la barca (Galfetti 55). Original color lithograph, 1963. 40 signed & numbered impressions (of which this is one) plus 70 unsigned impressions for the livre d'artiste published by Editeur Sala Gaspar, Barcelona. Printed by Damia Kaus, Barcelona on Velin Guarro watermarked "Tàpies." Image size: 315x210mm. Price: Please call or email for current pricing information.

For more small etchings and lithographs from 1962-1979, please click here.

Repliquer II (Galfetti 820). Original etching with carborundum, 1981. 50 signed and numbered impressions (of which ours is 8/50) plus plus 200 unsigned impressions of an earlier state without margins for the deluxe portfolio Repliquer. Through the use of the carborundum, Tàpies has achieved a deeply three-dimensional surface on this etching. Image size: 195x196mm. Paper size for the deluxe signed and numbered suite: 401x308mm. Price: Please call or email for current pricing information.

We also have an impression of the unsigned and unnumbered impression that was printed for the regular edition of 200 impressions. The regular edition was printed on Arches paper 285x204mm and has small margins or is printed to the edges of the paper, depending upon the print. Price: Please call or email for current pricing information.

For more small etchings and lithographs from 1981-1991, please click here.

Journal (Galfetti 166). Original color lithograph, 1968. Edition: c. 1500 unsigned impressions printed at Imprimerie Arte and published by Maeght Editeur, Paris, for the deluxe art review Derrière le Miroir. With the centerfold. Image size: 380x560mm. Price: Please call or email for current pricing information.

For more small and medium- size lithographs from Derrière le Miroir and other exhibition catalogs, please click here.

Foll (Galfetti 377). Original color lithograph, 1973. 150 signed and numbered impressions on Chiffon de la Dore paper measuring 295x460mm printed by Imprimerie Arte, Paris, and published by the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Vile de Paris. There were also several HC impressions, of which ours is one. Image size: 295x460mm. Price: Please call or email for current pricing information.

There was also an edition for the catalogue of the show, a retrospective of Tàpies' works between 1946 and 1973, lacking the signature and unnumbered. Image size: 285x440mm. Price: Please call or email for current pricing information.

For more small and medium- size lithographs from Derrière le Miroir and other exhibition catalogs, please click here.

Llambrec Material / Material Glance (Galfetti 539). Original color lithograph, 1975. Our example comes from one of the 50 signed portfolios in which each lithograph was not signed by the artist. Image size: 433x318mm. Price: Please call or email for current pricing information.

The text that accompanied this lithograph reads:
"Something
too uneven
to be written
on paper."

For more small and medium- size lithographs from the deluxe livre d'artiste Llambric Material / material Glance and other exhibition catalogs, please click here.

Sous Zero / Under zero (Galfetti 731). Original color lithograph, 1979. 75 signed and numbered impressions on Arches paper printed by Imprimerie Mourlot, Paris, and published by Maeght Editeur, Paris. Our impression is n. 39/75. There was also a separate edition published in the deluxe art review, Derriere le Miroir on paper measuring 380x280mm, trimmed to fit and with centerfolds. The title directs us first to the white line under the white zero in the middle of the lithograph, but to look only at that is to miss the entire little world of black numbers on light backgrounds surrounded by little squiggly magenta serpentine marks crossing the paper. Image size: 450x530mm. Price: Please call or email for current pricing information.

We also have an impression from Derriere le Miroir on paper measuring 380x280mm, trimmed to fit and with centerfolds, lacking the signature and unnumbered. Image size: 380x560mm. Price: Please call or email for current pricing information.

For more medium- size lithographs from 1967-1982, please click here.

Divisé (Galfetti 936). Original color lithograph, 1983. 150 signed & numbered impressions on Arches paper measuring 500x652mm printed by Atelier Lelong, Paris, and published by Galerie Lelong, Paris. Our impression is n. 29/150. In addition, there were 19 signed impressions hors commerce numbered I/XIX-XIX/XIX and 6 signed artist's proofs numbered I/VI-VI/VI. There was also a separate edition published in the deluxe art review, Repères: Cahiers d'art contemporain, n. 7. The format of the catalogue was 315x220mm and this lithograph served as a wrap-around front and rear cover, trimmed to fit and with folds at the spine. Image size: 325x478mm; full-sheet size: 500x652mm. Price: Please call or email for current pricing information.

For more medium- size lithographs from 1983-1995, please click here.

U no és ningú / Nobody is a nobody (Galfetti 727). Original color etching with carborundum, 1979. This is one of the suite of 5 etchings and two lithographs that Tàpies prepared to accompany U no és ningú / Nobody is a nobody, a deluxe artist's book containing prose and poetry by Joan Brossa. The book format was 345x250mm and contained the original works printed without margins and with centerfolds. The first 157 copies of the book were accompanied by separate suites of the prints printed on larger paper measuring 560x733mm with full margins as follows: 82 roman-numbered impressions (I/LXXXII-LXXXII/LXXXII) on Guarro paper, of which the first 7 copes (I-VII) contained one of the original drawings plus all seven of the prints, the next 75 (VIII-LXXXII) contained the same suite of prints, and the last 75, numbered 1-75 contained the two lithographs and three of the etchings (Cinta Roja, Cercle, and U no és ningú) printed by Ediciones Poligrafa SA in Barcelona; There were also 10 signed impressions hors commerce and 10 signed artist's proof impressions. Our impression is numbered 71/75 lower left and signed in pencil lower right. Image size: 342x523mm. Price: Please call or email for current pricing information.

For more medium-size etchings and lithographs from 1983-1995, please click here.

Negre i roig III: Fora (Galfetti 611). Original color etching with carborundum, aquatint, and flocking, 1976. 75 signed and numbered impressions on Guarro paper published by Ediciones Poligrafa in Barcelona. Illustrated in Tàpies in Print, the book published by the Museum of Modern Art for their Retrospective of Tàpies' original prints and reproduced in the New York Times for their review of the show. One of Tàpies' most beautiful and important prints. Image size: 560x760mm. Price: Please call or email for current pricing information.

For carborundum etchings from the '70s and early '80, please click here.

Negre i roig V: A damunt vermell (Galfetti 613). Original color etching with flocking and aquatint, 1976. 75 signed and numbered impressions on Guarro paper published by Ediciones Poligrafa in Barcelona, of which ours is n. 53/75. This is a an inadequate representation of the wonderfulness of this piece. In real life, this is, in fact, one of Tàpies richest and most beautiful prints. Image size: 560x760mm. Price: Please call or email for current pricing information.

For more carborundum etchings from the '70s and early '80, please click here again.

L'Enveloppe (Galfetti 155). Original color lithograph, 1968. 75 signed and numbered impressions printed by Imprimerie Adrien Maeght and published by Galerie Maeght, Paris. Our impression is annotated HC lower left. A very good, bright impression in very good condition. This work is discussed at some length in Riva Castleman, Contemporary Prints (NY: Viking, 1973). For Castleman, Curator of Prints and Illustrated Books Emerita at the Museum of Modern Art, this print embodies the essence of Tàpies's prints: "Graffiti or the calligraphic element has taken on an increasingly important role in Tàpies' work in recent years, and particularly in his prints. These remnants of the human compulsion to graphic expression are rarely transcribed by Tàpies as recognizable words. . . . the envelope shapes indicated by line and the seal is a nervous scribble" (p. 72). Like many of the "vestiges of human presence" in his works, the envelope offers us an attempt at communication that cannot communicate much more than our desire to do so at the same time it consoles us with the occasional beauty that can come from the failure of our attempts to do so. One of Tàpies' masterprints. Image size: 515x675mm. Price: Please call or email for current pricing information.

For more larger horizontal lithographs, please click here.

Pied marron (G. 975). Original color lithograph, 1982. 75 signed & numbered impressions, of which this is 39/75. Exhibited at the Palazzo Reale in Milan as part of their 1985 retrospective of Tapies paintings, drawings, and prints. Image size: 1110x755mm. Price: Please call or email for current pricing information.

For more larger vertical lithographs, please click here.

Antoni Tàpies (Spanish, b. 1923), Calligraphique. Original lithograph, 1987. 75 signed & numbered impressions. Shortly before his death Robert Motherwell acclaimed Tàpies as the greatest living European artist. Tàpies’ prints have always been recognized as a major part of his oeuvre, and were celebrated in a retrospective organized by The Museum of Modern Art in 1991 that circulated to a number of museums in the US, Central and South America from 1991 to 1993. For additional works by Tapies (we have over 150 different pieces), go to our Tapies pages. Image size: 1160x770mm; framed: 56x40 inches. Price: Please call or email for current pricing information.

For more larger vertical lithographs, please click here.

Taches et chiffres (Galfetti 330), an original lithograph, etching and aquatint with carborundum made in 1972 and published in an edition of 75 signed and numbered impressions (of which ours is n. 16/75) by Maeght Editeur in Paris, Tàpies' long-term dealer, and illustrating his love of surfaces. Image size: 750x1050mm. Mat size: 36x48 inches. Price: Please call or email for current pricing information.

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For directions and visiting information, please call. We are, of course, always available over the web and by telephone (see above for contact information). Click the following for links to past shows and artists. For a visual tour of the gallery, please click here. For information about Andy Weiner and Sonja Hansard-Weiner, please click here. For a list of special offers currently available, see Specials.

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