Spiritual Song

Staves, scales and dissonant trumpets make up a musical landscape that Antoni Tàpies named Spiritual Song. It dates from 1950, a period when he was closely involved with the historical avant-gardes and the Dau al Set group and was exploring the human figure and face, including self-portraiture. In both Spiritual Song and in other works from the late 1940s, Tàpies evokes magical realism and poetic yet sardonic figuration. These are works in which screams, wounds, cries, scratches and sounds impact us directly, as if clawing at our skin. His visionary, sonorous figures already reveal an energy that would permeate all his painting, as well as his attraction to the intangible and his endeavour to bring the physical and spiritual worlds closer together. A great music lover, Tàpies knew that sound, besides being the most complex of arts, also offers direct access to the soul.