By the time of this work from the late eighties, Antoni Tàpies had already consolidated his well-known matter painting. Extremely rich in textural qualities, it is also known for its singular iconography, made up of numbers, letters, words, incisions, arrows, crosses and objects of universal meaning such as hands or shoes. Vertical amb sabata (1987), which is part of the MACBA Collection, is a vertical format woodcut that has a twin work, Vertical amb cal·ligrafia (Vertical with Calligraphy), also from 1987, and belonging to the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina de Sofía in Madrid. These are works that combine matter painting with calligraphy and free brushstrokes. The painter incorporates figurative signs such as a schematic face and a shoe in a rather primitive and spontaneous manner. Produced with a quick stroke, without retouching or adding details, they refer to Tàpies’ often-stated claim that he wanted to achieve a unique brushstroke as practised in Chinese culture. These are forms that recall urban graffiti as well as Neolithic paintings or the mysterious hieroglyphics of ancient cultures. Another predominant presence is that of the square cross, a sign much loved by Tàpies, as he explained in the 1994 text, Creus, ics i altres contradiccions (Crosses, Exes and Other Contradictions): ‘For half a century, I myself have been determined to make crossings an essential part of my work and have gone so far as to adopt the cross as the initial of my surname and almost as the emblem of my work.’