This work was made for the book Nocturn Matinal, carried out collaboratively by Antoni Tàpies and the poet Joan Brossa (1919-1998) and published by Polígrafa. More specifically, the lithograph belongs to the suite Rehaussée and was published together with the book in a numbered and signed edition of 100. In this suite, a special edition of the lithographs from the book, Tàpies retouches some of the original motifs like, for instance in the case at hand, the inclusion of four red lines to further enhance the composition.

Born into a family closely connected with publishing and bookselling, Antoni Tàpies’ love of books was patent throughout his prolific career. The book Nocturn Matinal was conceived in collaboration with the artist and poet Joan Brossa, with whom he had a profound friendship and a noteworthy artistic affinity. The professional relationship between the two originated in 1948 with the founding of the

 Dau al Set 

a multidisciplinary Spanish avant-garde group founded in 1948 in Barcelona by Joan Brossa, Joan Ponç, Antoni Tàpies, Modest Cuixart, Joan-Josep Tharrats and the philosopher Arnau Puig, around the journal with the same name. Originally connected to Surrealism, it forged a unique style of its own defined by its endeavour to merge literature and painting.

magazine and the group of the same name. From that moment onwards, they worked together in various projects, mostly in artists books: Cop de poma, 1963—with the involvement of other artists, like Joan Miró (1893-1983); El pa a la barca (1963); Novel·la (1965); and Nocturn Matinal (1970). In addition, they jointly prepared issue number 180 of the magazine Derrière le Miroir (1969), published by Galería Maeght.

Tàpies also collaborated with various other artists and writers, like in the case of a suite of lithographs for the book Retornos de lo vivo lejano, in which he worked with Rafael Alberti (1902-1999), of which the BBVA Collection also treasures some works.

The lithography technique affords the work the freshness of a unique piece. In this particular one the central motif is heightened by four black dots, which are continued by four red marks following the direction of the cardinal points. The number four, formally associated throughout Tàpies’ work with the cross, is laden with symbolic content. Through it, the Catalan artist wished to connect with a symbolic tradition accrued throughout centuries of history and to achieve a “profound aesthetic” reach with his work. In his own words, “the artist is always in pursuit of fundamental, ultimate schemes, the most general justifications of things, the symbols that convey a universal and everlasting value.”