1986-1988

1986
Attends the opening of his anthological exhibition at the Wiener Künstlerhaus in Vienna, which subsequently travels to Eindhoven (Stedelijk van Abbemuseum). Exhibits new sculptures and ceramic mural reliefs at the Abbaye de Montmajour (Arles). In New York for the opening of his latest exhibition at the Galerie Maeght Lelong. A member, together with Francisco Bustelo, Dolores Ibárruri and María Zambrano, among others, of the honorary committee of the association organising the tribute to the Swiss International Brigades in Geneva. Actively involved in the Coordinadora per la Salvaguarda del Montseny (Co-ordinating Committee for the Safeguard of Montseny). Takes part in the inaugural exhibition of the Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid, together with Baselitz, Chillida, Saura, Serra and Twombly. Solo exhibitions in Madrid, Paris, Arles and Barcelona.

1987
Actively involved in a campaign organised by the Federació Sindical d’Artistes Plàstics de Catalunya in defence of artists’ rights to decide where their works were exhibited. Supports the Homo faber-Homo ludens programme organised by the Goethe Institut in Osaka. Publication of Équation, a collector’s book in conjunction with Jean Frémon. Barbara Catoir publishes Gespräche mit Antoni Tàpies. He takes part in the exhibitions Le Siècle de Picasso and Fifty Years of Collecting: An Anniversary Selection. Paintings Since World War II, in the Musée d’art moderne de la Ville de Paris and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (New York), respectively. Solo exhibitions in New York, Madrid, Zurich, Valencia, Cologne and Hannover.

1988
Invested doctor honoris causa by the Universitat de Barcelona; his investiture speech is about many of the themes on which he will write in future: the social function of art as a medium of understanding and transforming consciousness and behaviour, the significance of certain spiritual and contemplative experiences and the adaptation of these to current needs, and the importance of art in the struggle against commercialism and the trivialization of our experience. Produces the preliminary sketches for the monumental sculpture Núvol i cadira, which in 1990 crowns the Fundació Antoni Tàpies building. Publication of Carrer de Wagner, with engravings by Tàpies and poems by Brossa. The French government confers on him the title of Commandeur de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. New anthological exhibitions in Barcelona (Saló del Tinell) and Marseille (Musée Cantini). A retrospective exhibition of his graphic work, organised by the Portland School of Art in Maine, begins a tour around various cities in the USA. Anna Agustí publishes Tàpies. Obra completa 1943-1960, first volume of the catalogue raisonné of the artist’s work. Takes part in the exhibition Aspects of Collage, Assemblage and the Found Object in Twentieth-Century Art(the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York). Solo exhibitions in Paris, Basle, Berlin, Barcelona, Rome, London and Sankt Gall.