Artist and sculptor Antoni Tapies died in Barcelona at the age of 88, Catalan city officials said on Monday.

Tapies was the "last great artist of the 20th century," Spain's El Mundo newspaper wrote in a tribute to the deceased artist.

He started to make a name for himself in the 1940s and later became the best-known proponent of the abstract Informel style, working with "simple" materials such as sand, earth and iron.

Tapies received numerous awards and was elevated to a marquis by the Spanish king in 2010. His work is part of museum collections around the world.

In 1984 Tapies founded the Fundacio Antoni Tapies in Barcelona to promote modern art.

ncy/slk (AFP)