Pissarra

Description

Instead of laboriously using a hand-held rocker to create texture, Antoni Tàpies applied a carborundum paste over this large plate, its unevenness helping achieve the rugged, blackboard-like look he desired. The resulting abrasion on the plate collects a saturated ink film commensurate to the backgrounds of Tàpies’s related paintings, similarly filled with cryptic texts and impasto textures.

Pissarra

Antonio Tàpies

1972

Accession Number

46549

Medium

Etching and carborundum technique in black, ochre and white inks, on white wove paper

Dimensions

58.8 × 77.6 cm (23 3/16 × 30 9/16 in.)

Classification

intaglio

Museum

The Art Institute of Chicago

Chicago, United States

Credit Line

Purchased with funds provided by George A. Poole, Jr.