"I"
Antoni Tàpies
Spanish, 1923–2012
1961
A small canvas built up with latex paint mixed with marble dust into a dry, sandy field, scored near the top with a single carved letter “I,” in which Tàpies turns a lone sign into a tactile, almost ritual object.
At first you register a muted, skin-like surface—worn, dusty, and hush-toned—then your eye is arrested by the crude incision of the “I,” whose rough edges and shadow compel a sense of touch and presence.
By privileging texture and a solitary mark over representation, Tàpies helped shift postwar painting toward objecthood and material signification, showing how humble materials and a single symbol can carry poetic and cultural weight.
Medium
Latex paint with marble dust on canvas
Dimensions
21 3/4 x 18 1/4" (55.1 x 46.3 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Mary Sisler Bequest
Accession
691.1990
Palette
Exhibitions
