Antoni Tapies
Spain, 1923 - 2012
Person TypeIndividual
BiographyIt was in 1944 he studied law and later painting at the Academia Valls, Barcelona. Held his first exhibition at the Galleries Laietana, and in 1952 sent exhibits to the Venice Biennale and in 1953 made his name as a painter at the Martha Jackson Gallery, New York. Retrospective exhibitions of Tapies works in 1962 were at the Soloman Guggenheim Museum, New York and then the Kunsthaus in Zurich. Other retrospective exhibitions in Paris, Vienna and at the Museo Espanol de Arte Contemporaneo, Madrid were a great success in the 1970's. In 1981 he was awarded the Medalla de Oro de Bellas Artes by King Juan Carlos I in Madrid, Spain in 1984 the Fundacio Antoni Tapies, Barcelona was created and became a landmark for the painter as he began a period of European and far eastern travels. It was in 1988 he was honoured by the title of Commandeur de Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by France and in 1990 he accepted an award of the Praemium Imperiale by the Art Association of Japan. His painting at the Venice Biennale was awarded a major prize in 1993 followed by other retrospective exhibitions in later years by a successful and great Spanish artist of the 20th Century. He is still painting and living in Barcelona.