Galerie Maeght, Paris
Galerie Rudolf Zwirner, Cologne
Private Collection, Cologne
Sotheby & Co, London, 3 April 1974, Lot 51
Acquired from the above by the present owner

Paris, Galerie Maeght, Tàpies, 1969, n.p., no. 8, illustrated
Siegen, Städtische Galerie Haus Seel, Rubenspreis, 1972, p. 31, no. 15, illustrated in colour

Alexandre Cirici, Tàpies, Witness of Silence, Barcelona 1972, p. 308, no. 315, illustrated in colour
Exh. Cat., Karlsruhe, Badisher Kunstverein; Kiel, Kunsthalle zu Kiel; Linz, Neue Galerie der Stadt Linz - Wolfgang-Gurlitt-Museum, Antoni Tàpies: Werk und Zeit, 1979-80, p. 139, no. 147, illustrated
Anna Agusti, Tàpies, Obra Completa: 1961-1968, Vol. 2, Barcelona 1988, p. 429, no. 1851, illustrated in colour

Colour: The colours in the catalogue illustration are fairly accurate, although background is brighter in the original. The catalogue illustration fails to convey the rich texture of the sand visible in the original. Condition: This work is in very good and original condition. There are a few spots of wear and handling in isolated places to the extreme outer edges. Some of the sand has detached from the surface, which is inherent to the medium's natural ageing process. Close inspection reveals two small spots of loss to the blue pigment; one towards the centre left of te composition, and one to the extreme left edge, approximately five centimetres from the lower left corner. All other surface irregularities are in keeping with the artist's choice of media and working process. No restoration is apparent when examined under ultraviolet light.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Up until the 1950s Antoni Tàpies’ work had been characterised by a heavily surrealist influence where automatic painting married symbolic autobiographical allusions. Those canvases belie the painter’s great admiration for heavyweights such as Joan Miró or Pablo Picasso, whose international reputation was even stronger in Spain. However, between 1953 and 1954, the artist’s output experienced a decisive change, one that would affect his oeuvre thereafter and which would come to play a central role in all of his two and three dimensional work. Following the example of Miró, but especially of the representatives of Art Informel such as Jean Dubuffet and Jean Fautrier, and fascinated by his reading of texts by Einstein, Heisenberg and Schrödinger about matter and the behaviour of particles, Tàpies began to introduce materials in his compositions that were considered unorthodox in painting but which are now synonymous with his practice, such as sand or dust mixed with glue and pigment. Known as “Pintura Matérica” or material painting, this particular style enabled the artist to not only represent reality by means of his paintings, but to capture reality itself in them. It was precisely during the second half of the 1950s and during the 1960s that Tàpies’ reputation became truly international, with his work featuring in numerous exhibitions in important institutions worldwide.

In 1960, Tàpies’ works were included in the now emblematic show New Forms – New Media at the Martha Jackson Gallery in New York alongside those by Alberto Burri, John Chamberlain, Joseph Cornell, Claes Oldenburg and Robert Rauschenberg amongst others. That same year, Tàpies used the motif of the bed for the first time in one of his paintings; Brown Bed. The following decade was characterised by the artist’s interest in objects and their becoming a central theme in his oeuvre. Hailing from this period is Blue Bed, from 1968, which evidences Tàpies exploration of the theme throughout the years. Akin to Oldenburg’s reinterpretation of the everyday object in soft form or Rauschenberg’s assemblages in his Combines, Tàpies’ use of familiar objects in his compositions was born out of a deep desire to challenge the viewer’s conception of the reality that surrounds her. Here, Tàpies doesn’t only reinterpret the texture of a bed in the traditional sense of the idea – from a soft, welcoming piece of furniture into a harder, textured relief – but he also challenges our mental image of it by representing it in bright blue pigment. By challenging our perception of the bed, in Blue Bed Tàpies somehow achieved a much more successful representation of it, capturing its ver✨൩y essence on the picture plane.