Museu Tàpies

Tàpies achieved international recognition by the mid-1950s. In the 1960s, he began incorporating new iconographic elements (writing, signs, anthropomorphic elements, footprints and references to Catalan life) and new technical methods (new surfaces, use of everyday objects and varnish). Tàpies’ pictorial language continued to develop since that time, resulting in a creative and productive body of work that is admired throughout the world.

The Museu Tàpies was created in 1984 by the Catalan artist, Antoni Tàpies, to promote the study and knowledge of modern and contemporary art. The museum combines temporary exhibitions, symposia, lectures and film seasons with a range of publications that complement the activities and periodic shows of Tàpies’ work.

The Museu Tàpies owns one of the most complete collections of Tàpies’ oeuvre, largely made up of donations by Antoni and Teresa Tàpies. Including paintings, sculptures, objects, drawings, books and engravings, the collection contains samples of all aspects of Tàpies’ artistic activity, as well as the different formats, techniques and materials used by the artist.

The museum opened its doors in June 1990 in the building of the former Montaner i Simon publishing house, originally designed by the Modernista architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner. Constructed during an early stage of the evolution of Catalan Modernisme, between 1880 and 1881-82, the building was the first in the Eixample district to integrate industrial typology and technology, combining exposed brick and iron into the fabric of the city centre.