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Manolo Millares and Antoni Tàpies are two of the most recognized artists from European Post-war abstraction. Both born in Spain, they are best known for their abstract assemblages and paintings. They gained international repute in the late 50s and early 60s. In the mid-50s, Millares helped found the avant-garde group “El Paso” (The Step), an important Informalist collective of artists in Spain active until the 60s. They aimed to innovate and renew the Spanish painting tradition through a radical new use of textures, materials and graphism. Working during the same period, Tàpies was a celebrated artist who played an important part of the Art Informel movement. He pioneered mixed media creation and is known for incorporating untraditional materials into his work like dust, earth, and found objects. Manolo Millares (b. 1926, Las Palmas, Canary Islands; d. 1972, Madrid, Spain) was included in the Venice Biennale in 1957 and acquired by Museum of Modern Art, New York the same year; he participated in “European Art Today: 35 Painters and Sculptors” at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts (1959); as well as in “Before Picasso: After Miró” at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (1960). His paintings are included in the collection of
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the Museum of Modern Art and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; Tate Gallery, London; The Museum of Modern Art, Buenos Aires; the Galleria Nazionale, Rome, among others. He also had major retrospectives at Musée d’Art moderne de la Ville de Paris (1971), Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid (1992), and the Sen-oku Hakuko Kan Museum, Tokyo (2003), among many other prestigious institutions. Antoni Tàpies (b. 1923, Barcelona, Spain; d. 2012, Barcelona, Spain) was included in the Venice Biennale in 1957. His painting are included in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; Tate Gallery, London; Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris among others and he had retrospectives at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (1962), Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris (1973), The Seibu Museum of Art, Tokyo (1976), Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid (1990), The Museum of Modern Art, New York ( 1992), the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (1995), among many other prestigious institutions.
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Manolo Millares和 Antoni Tàpies是那一代歐洲藝術家中 最為知名的兩位。兩位藝術家均出生於西班牙，以抽 象繪畫和創作而聞名，並於50年代末至60年代初獲得 了國際聲譽。在50年代中期，Millares協助創立了前衛 藝術團體「El Paso」（The Step），這是西班牙極為重 要的無形式主義藝術組織，一直活躍至60年代，旨在 通過激進地對紋理，材質和圖形的創新來改革西班牙 繪畫傳統。在同一時期曾於他共事過的Tàpies亦是一位 著名的藝術家，在無形式主義運動中扮演重要角色。 他開創了混合媒材的創作方式，並以將非傳統藝術材 料融合到他的作品中而聞名，如襪子，灰塵，泥土和 拾得物件 。 Manolo Millares（生於1926年，拉斯帕爾馬斯，加那利 群島; 去世於1972年，西班牙馬德里）於1957年便參與 威尼斯雙年展，同年被紐約現代藝術博物館館藏；參 加了群展：《今日歐洲藝術展：35位畫家和雕塑家》 ，明尼阿波利斯藝術學院（1959）；《畢加索之前： 米羅之後》，所羅門·R·古根海姆博物館，紐約 （1960年）；他的作品被收藏於現代藝術博物館，所 羅門·R·古根海姆博物館，紐約；泰特美術館，倫
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敦；現代藝術博物館，布宜諾斯艾利斯；國家美術 館，羅馬，等國際藝術博物館，並於巴黎現代藝術博 物館（Muséed’Art moderne de la Ville de Paris）（1971 ），馬德里國家藝術中心索菲婭博物館（Museo d’Arte ReinaSofía）（1992年）和東京森奧博古館（Sen-oku Hakuko Kan Museum）（2003）舉辦過重要的回顧 展。 1957年，Antoni Tàpies參加威尼斯雙年展。他的作品 被永久收藏於：現代藝術博物館和所羅門·R·古根 海姆博物館，紐約；泰特美術館，倫敦；索菲婭王后 國家藝術中心博物館，馬德里；蓬皮杜藝術中心，巴 黎。他曾於全球各地舉辦過回顧展，其中包括：所羅 門·R·古根海姆博物館，紐約（1962）；現代藝術 博物館，巴黎（1973年）；西武藝術博物館，東京 （1976）；索菲婭王后國家藝術中心博物館，馬德里 （1990年）；現代藝術博物館，紐約（1992年）；所 羅門·R·古根海姆博物館，紐約（1995年）；以及 許多其他著名國際藝術機構。
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Antoni TĂ pies, 1923 - 2012 Forats i claus sobre blanc 1968 Mixed media on canvas 60 x 73 cm
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Manolo Millares, 1926 - 1972 Cuadro 64(3) 1959 Mixed media on burlap 131 x 162.6 cm
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Manolo Millares, 1926 - 1972 Humboldt en el Orinoco 1968 Mixed media on burlap 65 x 81 cm
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Manolo Millares, 1926 - 1972 Cuadro (3) 1960 Mixed media on burlap 60 x 73 cm
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Manolo Millares, 1926 - 1972 HumĂşnculo (1) 1965 Mixed media on burlap 139.7 x 91.5 cm
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Antoni TÃ pies, 1923 - 2012 Brown on Black with Collage 1972 Mixed media on canvas 146.1 x 88.9 cm
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Antoni TĂ pies, 1923 - 2012 Untitled 1969 Paint, pencil and collage on wood 84 x 61.3 cm
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Antoni TÃ pies, 1923 - 2012 Perfil i boca 2009 Mixed media on canvas 116 x 89 cm
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Antoni TĂ pies, 1923 - 2012 Peu i espiral 1986 Painting on canvas, signed on the back 100 x 81 cm
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Antoni TĂ pies, 1923 - 2012 Dividit en diagonal 2007 Mixed media on wood 160 x 160 cm
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Antoni TĂ pies, 1923 - 2012 Nuat 1997 Mixed media and assemblage on wood 130.5 x 162 cm
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Manolo Millares
1926-1946 Manolo Millares was born on February 17th, 1926, in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. The artist was largely self-taught, and he started attending lectures at the local university that expose him to the works of Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali. Significantly influenced by Dali, Millares experiments with Surrealist themes for several years. 1950-1951 Since 1950 he performed his first constructivist and aboriginal attempts. His first individual exhibition in the peninsula was opened in 1951, at the Jardin Galleries in Barcelona as well as in the Clan Gallery in Madrid, and in the same year he exhibited at the 1st Hispano-American Art Biennial in Madrid. 1953-1957 The use of sackcloth in his works began at this point. In 1953, he married Elvireta Escobio, with whom he moved to Madrid. He then exhibited at Tenerife's Institute for Spanish Studies, the 2nd Hispano-American Art Biennial in La Habana and the 28th International Venice Biennale. In 1957, Millares co-founded the avant-garde group “El Paso� (The Step), an important Informalist collective of artists in Spain active until the 60s. Also in 1957, The Museum of Modern Art in New York purchased its first work by Millares. He obtained increasing international recognition (exhibitions in Lisbon, Paris, Tokyo, Minneapolis, Munich...). 1960-1962 He exhibited at the Pierre Matisse Gallery, MOMA, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Daniel Cordier Gallery. The Tate Gallery, Buenos Aires Museum of Modern Art and the Galleria Nazionale of Rome acquired some of his pieces.
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1963-1965 With his international acclaim growing, Millares holds solo exhibitions in Brussels, Rome, Stockholm Buenos Aires, Lisbon and Cannes. In 1964, he travelled to the United States to organize Pittsburgh's exhibition and befriended the extremely successful German artist Hans Hartung. 1968-1972 In June of 1968, Millares is selected for the Anthological Exhibition at the 34th Venice Biennale. His last works of the series "Antropofauna" were inspired by Cap Ferrat where Henri Matisse used to live. He died in Madrid, on August 14th, 1972. His paintings are included in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; Tate Gallery, London; The Museum of Modern Art, Buenos Aires; the Galleria Nazionale, Rome, among others and he had major retrospectives at Musée d’Art moderne de la Ville de Paris (1971), Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid (1992), and the Sen-oku Hakuko Kan Museum, Tokyo (2003).
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Antoni Tàpies
1923-1948 Antoni Tàpies was born in Barcelona in 1923 into a cultured, middle-class, Catalan nationalist family. After his first experiment with art, Tàpies spent an increasing amount of time on drawing and painting and ended up abandoning his law studies to devote himself to them fully. In 1944, he began to study drawing at the Academia Valls in Barcelona. Around 1948, Tàpies became involved in a group of artists and poets in Barcelona who were drawn to the Dada and Surrealist movements. Calling themselves Dau al Set, or "Die at Seven," the group began showing their work in the city. 1950-1954 In 1950 Tàpies had his first solo show at Galeries Laietanes in Barcelona. In 1951 Tàpies won a scholarship from the French Institute that enabled him to live modestly and study in Paris. Returning to Barcelona, his creativity flourished during this decade, and his reputation as an artist accrued accordingly. In 1953 he was invited to show his works in Chicago at the Marshall Field Art Gallery, and the following year he had a show in New York City at its Martha Jackson Gallery. 1955-1958 Tàpies turned to abstract art, becoming part of the broad Art Informel movement, and began working in mixed media. He incorporated marble dust and clay into his paint, and used found objects like string, paper and. In 1958, he showed at the Spanish Pavilion of the Venice Biennale and won a prize. He also won a prize at the Carnegie International in Pittsburgh during the same year. His message focuses on the revaluation of what is regarded as low, repulsive material. 1960-1973 During the 1950s and 1960s, Tàpies exhibited in major museums and galleries throughout the United States, Europe, Japan, and South America.In the late 60s and early 70s, his political commitment in opposition to the dictatorship deepened and the works from that period have a
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marked character of denunciation and protest. Coinciding with the flowering of Arte Povera in Europe and post-minimalism in the United States, he worked more with objects. In 1973, he had his retrospective exhibition at the Musée national d’art modern in Paris. 1980-1993 In the early 80s, once democracy had returned to Spain, Tàpies’ interest in canvas as a support took on renewed strength. He continued diversifying his mediums, producing his first ceramic sculptures and designing sets for Jacques Dupin’s play L'Éboulement (The landslide). In 1990, the Fundació Antoni Tàpies opened in Barcelona, established in Tàpies’s name to study and exhibit modern and contemporary art, periodically preparing Tàpies-centric exhibitions and publications. In 1993, he and Cristina Iglesias represented Spain at the Venice Biennale, where his installation was awarded the Golden Lion. 1995-2012 In 1995, Tàpies has a retrospective exhibition at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York. The works of his last years are, most of all, a reflection on pain - both physical and spiritual - understood as an integral part of life. Influenced by Buddhist thought, Tàpies believes that a better knowledge of pain allows us to soften its effects and therefore improve our quality of life. He died in Barcelona, on 6 February, 2012. His painting are included in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; Tate Gallery, London; Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris among others and he had retrospectives at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (1962), Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris (1973), The Seibu Museum of Art, Tokyo (1976), Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid (1990), The Museum of Modern Art, New York ( 1992), the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (1995), among many other prestigious institutions.
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Manolo Millares - Antoni Tàpies: An Informel Step 29 March – 12 May, 2018
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