Accession Number
2000/2.200

Title
Composition

Artist(s)
Antoni Tàpies

Artist Nationality
Spanish (culture or style)

Object Creation Date
1959

Medium & Support
graphite and gouache on wove paper

Dimensions
8 1/16 in x 7 7/8 in (20.48 cm x 20 cm);15 11/16 in x 14 15/16 in (39.85 cm x 37.94 cm)

Credit Line
Gift of Herbert Barrows

Subject matter
Most well-known for his Matter Paintings and often associated with the Art Brut movement, Tàpies' works often focused on materiality and form. In fact, these elements are central to the artist's work. He incorporated unconventional materials such as dust, chalk, and sand in his works, seeking to evoke the mystical and alchemical importance of the natural world. As in this drawing, he focuses on revaluing "low" material and subject matter. With its earth tones and gestural brushstrokes, Composition brings to mind a splotch of dirt or mud. Yet, Tàpies uses the undefined zig-zag form of this drawing to elevate it to an almost spiritual state.

Physical Description
This abstract drawing includes a dotted line around the periphery, a wash of darker color extending almost to the dotted line, and a fat, gray, vertical zig-zag shape in the middle of the wash with gray blobs at the outside edge of each zig or zag.

Primary Object Classification
Drawing

Collection Area
Modern and Contemporary

Rights
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Keywords
Non-Representational Art
abstraction
form (composition concepts)
mysticism
natural