1954-1958

1954
Another solo exhibition in Barcelona (Galeries Laietanes). Takes part in the XXVII Biennale in Venice, the 64th Annual Exhibition of the Nebraska Art Association and the exhibition Reality and Fantasy 1900-1954 (Walker Art Center, Minneapolis). He marries Teresa Barba Fàbregas.

1955
Travels to Paris, where he meets the poet and critic Édouard Jaguer, who invites him to take part in the exhibition Phases de l’art contemporain (Galerie R. Creuze). Also meets Michel Tapié, with whose aesthetic thinking he sympathizes. Takes part in the debates on art organised by the Universidad Internacional Menéndez y Pelayo (Santander). Prize from the Republic of Colombia at the III Bienal Hispanoamericana in Barcelona. At the end of the year he takes part in the inaugural exhibition at the Galerie Stadler in Paris. Solo exhibitions in Stockholm, Santander and Barcelona.

1956
First solo exhibition in Paris (Galerie Stadler), showing the material-based paintings characteristic of this period. He travels through Italy, visiting Verona, Vicenza, Padua – where he admires Giotto’s frescoes in the Scrovegni Chapel – and Venice. First visit to Switzerland. Michel Tapié publishes Antonio Tàpies et l’œuvre complète. He takes part in the exhibition Recent Abstract Painting (Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester), together with Appel, Burri, Hartung, Kline, Pollock, Rothko and others. His son Antoni is born.

1957
Awarded the X Prize Internazionale per la Pittura de Lissone (Milan). He returns to Italy: Pisa, Florence, etc. Together with Michel Tapié, he organises the exhibition Arte Otro (Sala Gaspar, Barcelona), introducing Spain to the work of Pollock, Kline, Dubuffet, Fautrier and Fontana, among others. In Paris, he meets Roland Penrose and Lee Miller. Solo exhibitions in New York, Paris and Düsseldorf. Takes part in the IV Bienal de São Paulo.

1958
In Milan, he opens his solo exhibition at the Galleria dell’Ariete, presented by the poet and art critic Jacques Dupin, with whom he develops a lasting friendship. He meets the painters Lucio Fontana and Emilio Scanavino and is photographed by Ugo Mulas. He takes part in the XXIX Biennale di Venezia, where he receives the UNESCO Prize and the David Bright Foundation Award. He meets Luigi Nono and Nuria Schönberg, Emilio Vedova, Will Grohmann, Alberto Burri, Shuzo Takiguchi, Yoshiaki Tono, etc. Visits Ravenna and Bologna. Awarded the first prize from the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh; meets Marcel Duchamp, a member of the prize jury. Takes part in the Osaka Festival. His daughter Clara is born.