Negre i roig V: A damunt vermell - Antoni Tàpies

A striking abstract etching and aquatint by Antoni Tàpies, featuring bold red fields and gestural marks that explore the materiality of printmaking.

Antoni Tàpies, a central figure in the Spanish post-war art scene, produced this work as part of his exploration into the materiality of the print medium. The composition is dominated by a deep, saturated field of red, which functions as both a physical surface and a psychological space. Tàpies often utilised the printmaking process to mimic the texture of his larger paintings, where he would incorporate sand, dust, and other matter into his pigments. Here, the aquatint technique creates a velvety, dense quality that absorbs light, contrasting with the stark, incised lines that cut across the surface.

The inclusion of the letter 'A' and other gestural marks suggests a preoccupation with semiotics and the origins of language. Tàpies viewed these symbols as primal elements, detached from their conventional linguistic roles. By placing these marks against a raw, visceral background, he invites the viewer to consider the act of mark-making as a fundamental human gesture. The edges of the composition remain loose and uncontained, reflecting his interest in the boundary between the artwork and the surrounding environment.

This piece demonstrates the artist's ability to balance controlled technique with a sense of spontaneity. The interplay between the dark, brooding tones and the bright red ground creates a tension that is characteristic of his mature period. Tàpies avoids decorative excess, preferring a reductive approach that focuses on the weight and presence of the image itself. As a practitioner of the Informel movement, he rejected geometric abstraction in favour of a more intuitive, material-based practice. This print serves as a representative example of his graphic output, where the physical resistance of the copper plate informs the final visual result, producing a work that is both tactile and cerebral in its execution.