It was during an interview in the artist's studio that Mr. Federico Mayor, Director General of UNESCO from 1987 to 1999, asked Antoni Tàpies if he would create a work for UNESCO. In 1995, on the occasion of UNESCO’s 50th anniversary and during a ceremony at which Tàpies received an award, he presented his work, "Totes les coses" (All the Things) as a donation to the Organization.
This canvas appears to gather all the objects and symbols that the painter likes to use in conveying his message – a message of which he said in his text “The practice of art” (1970): “If the public at large reaches a point where they are in perfect harmony with certain artistic mediums, it is because these mediums, having become too satisfactory, have lost all virulence. Without shock, art cannot exist”. Rightly enough, his mix of techniques and materials, often said to be poor or elementary, create shock. In "Totes les coses", Tàpies mixes calligraphic elements along with thick strokes of black paint for the cross (the most recurrent symbol in his work), or diluted ink. Clay dust is used for the ochre background of the painting, against which the artist places neutral objects from daily life, including the broom on the left, which seems to have served as a paintbrush for the cross, or the lid from a can of paint - the only white element in the work.
It is difficult to fully understand what Tàpies wished to express through his use of symbols. By mixing some of his preferred elements with new objects that reference similar themes, he offers the spectator several hints. One can thus assume that the painter wanted to draw or 'dispose' of all those things that have been important in his life: the stately “T”, seen in almost all his works, corresponds to the first letter of his wife’s name, Teresa, as well as of the artist's last name. He accompanies this imposing letter with common objects, like the broom, which might serve to “sweep away” all that is harmful in life, or the lid from the can of paint, which represents one of the most basic elements necessary to the artist. In its simplicity, art must be, according to Tàpies, a means of reconstructing a world lost “in a flourish of artifice and convention” (“The Practice of Art”, 1970).