Lot Essay
It was in the late 1950's that Tàpies clearly defined his own personal style. Breaking away from the surrealist influence and the use of oil on canvas and figuration, Tàpies's main concern became matter and texture. Although the image of man as a figurative concept was eliminated, the presence of the artist was now felt by the gestures, the incisions in the media and the symbols used.
This work follows Tàpies's use of a wall like image to explore the conflict of textures and material. Here matter is trodden down, split, scratched or excessively caked. Areas are scraped to reveal the ground, raw or infused with traces of previous working phases. This can be seen in the corners where marble dust is found creeping out from beneath the layers of black paint.
The subject of this work is the juxtaposition between order and chaos. It reflects the dualist principles of man-made creation in the upper triptych form versus a reminiscence of natural evolution in the lower area. While the top panel remains relatively untouched, the lower one is chaotic and disordered. The two cracked lower corners seem to want to encircle the empty jet black space in the centre of the painting which appears to resist and engulf as it approaches. The empty centre seems to be charged with a force which repels the cracking, so that the marked incisions are found only in the margins.
During this period, Tàpies became interested in the use of different materials such as sand and marble dust. The pictures were now on a much grander format while conversely their composition became more simplistic. Andreas Franzke writes: "Confronted by a Tàpies panel, the viewer sees and feels himself facing a wall, to the reality of which he is forced to react. He can no longer count on being provided with an iconographical frame of reference, or even with familiar compositional principles, let alone being able to detect traces of the conventional painter's utensils. With a mixture of fascination and irritation, we discover that visual and haptic perception are independent, that every Tàpies image is truly a wall, that its theme lies concealed in its material presence, and that its essence is manifested in the evocative force of its forms and pictorial elements." (Anna Agustí, Tàpies: The Complete Works: 1961-1968, vol. II, p. 12)
This work follows Tàpies's use of a wall like image to explore the conflict of textures and material. Here matter is trodden down, split, scratched or excessively caked. Areas are scraped to reveal the ground, raw or infused with traces of previous working phases. This can be seen in the corners where marble dust is found creeping out from beneath the layers of black paint.
The subject of this work is the juxtaposition between order and chaos. It reflects the dualist principles of man-made creation in the upper triptych form versus a reminiscence of natural evolution in the lower area. While the top panel remains relatively untouched, the lower one is chaotic and disordered. The two cracked lower corners seem to want to encircle the empty jet black space in the centre of the painting which appears to resist and engulf as it approaches. The empty centre seems to be charged with a force which repels the cracking, so that the marked incisions are found only in the margins.
During this period, Tàpies became interested in the use of different materials such as sand and marble dust. The pictures were now on a much grander format while conversely their composition became more simplistic. Andreas Franzke writes: "Confronted by a Tàpies panel, the viewer sees and feels himself facing a wall, to the reality of which he is forced to react. He can no longer count on being provided with an iconographical frame of reference, or even with familiar compositional principles, let alone being able to detect traces of the conventional painter's utensils. With a mixture of fascination and irritation, we discover that visual and haptic perception are independent, that every Tàpies image is truly a wall, that its theme lies concealed in its material presence, and that its essence is manifested in the evocative force of its forms and pictorial elements." (Anna Agustí, Tàpies: The Complete Works: 1961-1968, vol. II, p. 12)