New readings on the collection. Tàpies

"When they brought out L'esperit català, I jumped up from my chair and immediately thought, 'This has to be ours.' I said enthusiastically to Javier, 'Don't you like it? Isn't it really good?'" These words by María Josefa Huarte express the love at first sight she felt when she saw this work at the Maeght Gallery in Paris in 1971, marking the beginning of the relationship between the collector and the works of Antoni Tàpies.

On the occasion of the loan of The Catalan spirit to the Tàpies Foundation from Barcelona for the exhibition "Antoni Tàpies. Collection. 1966–1976"Two paintings have been received by the Museum as part of an exchange. Water Days (1987) and Grand Cross (1989), and a sculpture, Matalàs (1987). These works have been selected by the Museum's curatorial team based on their relationship to the works by Tàpies in our collection., and his presence in Pamplona It represents a unique opportunity to update, broaden, and deepen our understanding of our pieces. completing its meaning and significance. Thus, the selection criteria of these three specific works and not others, has been based on the dialogue that can be established with the Tàpies belonging to the Museum., both from a formal and conceptual point of view, as well as from an emotional one, since we must not forget that María Josefa Huarte's collection is based on her intuition and personal taste. In this way, help us not only to understand the author's creative universe, but also to understand the patron's artistic criteriaThese paintings and sculptures fall within the realm of informalism and the search for formal solutions involving walls and the recreation of humble materials, on which elementary symbols such as crosses, geometric shapes, and scribbles are arranged in a graffiti-like manner, symbolizing the mysteries of life and death associated with human experiences.

ANTONI TÀPIES

Antoni Tàpies (Barcelona 1923-2012), a self-taught artist, is one of the leading representatives of post-war Spanish art. He was founding member, in 1948, from the Dau al Set group, and the The beginnings of his artistic career can be linked to surrealism., from which will lead to a material painting linked to the international informalist movement. Since the 1950s, the work Tàpies gained wide international recognitionThis did not prevent the artist from continuing to assert his Catalan identity, and the political nature of his art emerged in formal and symbolic aspects, especially in the final years of Franco's regime. In the 1980s, Tàpies became attracted to Eastern philosophies, particularly Zen.