Early Life and Influences Born: Barcelona, Spain (1923) Died: 2012 Son of a lawyer and Catalan nationalist, Josep Tàpies i Mestre. Grew up in an environment exposed to Catalan public life and republicanism. First introduced to contemporary art through the magazine *d’ací i d’allà* at age 17. Suffered a near-fatal heart attack at 17 due to tuberculosis, spending two years convalescing in the mountains where he pursued his i…