Madrid – On 25 February, Christie’s will present Xhibition: Antoni Tàpies, a major exhibition showcasing an important corpus of work by the Post-War painter. In association with Galería Javier López & Fer Francés, Xhibition explores the relevance and versatility of the sign `X´ - or cross, showcasing some of the most striking and significant examples of Tapies’ Post-War oeuvre, some of which are important museum loans. Coinciding with ARCO art fair in Madrid and touring to London in June, this pioneering initiative is the first travelling private selling exhibition organized by Christie´s. This is an opportunity not to miss for Post-War collectors and art enthusiasts who are travelling to Madrid during one of the busiest calendar moments in the art world.

Guillermo Cid, Specialist, Head of Post-War & Contemporary Art, Madrid, “Christie´s strongly believes that Tàpies’ works are among the most beautiful examples of Post-War art, and we hope to generate greater awareness of the artist with this show on an international scale. Tàpies’ style encompasses a series of techniques and approaches that singles him out as a unique voice within the European abstraction of his period. He responded to the visual appearance of Post-War abstraction, combining materialistic concerns with a symbolic cosmos inherited from the surreal art of Paul Klee and Joan Miró. The result was a radical and solemn language unlike everything else that was being done at the time. Whilst the matter is the flesh of his paintings, the crosses and the X symbols – in all their guises – are their bones and skeletons. Christie´s is thrilled to collaborate with Galería Javier López & Fer Francés in this landmark show.”

Tobias Sirtl, Specialist, Post War & Contemporary Art, Munich, comments: “Tàpies received the Rubens Prize of Siegen, West Germany, in 1972. That prize only came to confirm what had been obvious since the beginning of the ‘60s: that the well-informed European art scene of the time saw in Tàpies one of the champions of Post-War abstraction. Many of the Spanish-Catalan painter’s masterpieces are housed in major museums of central Europe and hang on the walls of the most renowned collections.  We are grateful to those who have loaned us a selection of works to make this a landmark show within the artists’ wider exhibition history. Tàpies’ unique pictorial idiom enriched the language of Informalism, incorporating innovative features common to contemporary movements such as Zero or Spatialism. His oeuvre is marked by a sober colour palette, the use of raw materials and the conception of his paintings as objects, rather than depictions of a reality outside the canvas. This show celebrates the pioneering language that brought Tàpies early critical acclaim in Europe and beyond.”