Matta
Matta
Roberto Sebastian Antonio Echaurren Matta Roberto Sebastiano Matta Echaurren Matta, (Roberto Sebastian Antonio Echaurren Matta) Roberto Sebastian Antonio Matta Echaurren Roberto Matta Roberto Sebastián Matta
<p>Roberto Sebastián Antonio Matta Echaurren, better known simply as Matta, forged a unique path between visionary landscape painting and abstraction, making profound contributions to both the international <a href="https://www.artic.edu/collection?style_ids=Surrealism" target="_blank">Surrealist</a> movement and <a href="https://www.artic.edu/collection?style_ids=Abstract+Expressionism" target="_blank">Abstract Expressionism</a>.&nbsp;</p><p>Trained as an architect in Santiago, Chile, Matta moved to France in the mid-1930s and worked as a draftsman in <a href="https://www.artic.edu/artists/31814/le-corbusier-charles-edouard-jeanneret" target="_blank">Le Corbusier</a>’s architecture studio for several years. The British-American painter Gordon Onslow Ford (for whom the artist would later name his son, <a href="https://www.artic.edu/artists/62107/gordon-matta-clark" target="_blank">Gordon Matta-Clark</a>) first introduced Matta to Surrealism and encouraged him to pursue painting. Matta’s early works, such as <a href="https://www.artic.edu/artworks/118730/untitled-psychological-morphology" target="_blank"><em>Untitled (Psychological Morphology)</em></a> (1939), modeled a new approach to representing psychological states through landscape-like compositions.</p><p>Fleeing Paris almost immediately after the outbreak of World War II, Matta arrived in New York in November 1939. His fluency in English allowed him to socialize with ease among contemporaries including <a href="https://www.artic.edu/artists/35851/robert-motherwell" target="_blank">Robert Motherwell</a>, <a href="https://www.artic.edu/artists/1855/william-baziotes" target="_blank">William Baziotes</a>, and <a href="https://www.artic.edu/artists/20772/jackson-pollock" target="_blank">Jackson Pollock</a>, who began to meet regularly in Matta’s studio and were inspired by his particularly painterly approach to Surrealist ideas. Matta’s vibrant abstract paintings of the mid-1940s, such as <a href="https://www.artic.edu/artworks/117188/the-earth-is-a-man" target="_blank"><em>The Earth Is a Man</em></a><em> </em>(1942)—arguably the artist’s best-known work—led the way to the growing monumental scale of abstraction in New York later that decade.</p><p>In the late 1940s Matta chose to leave New York, working between Italy and his native Chile for much of the rest of his life. He continued to create paintings, such as <a href="https://www.artic.edu/artworks/159810/glittering-the-being" target="_blank"><em>Glittering the Being</em></a><em> </em>(1958), and sculptures, such as <a href="https://www.artic.edu/artworks/20356/couple-iv" target="_blank"><em>Couple IV</em></a> (1959–60), which brought the dense linear networks of his paintings into three dimensions. The Art Institute’s extensive holdings—40 artworks—are among the best and most complete demonstrations of the range of Matta’s long career.</p>
Matta
Chilean, 1911-2002 Roberto Matta
Chilean, 1911–2002 Matta (Chilean, 1911-2002)
published by Allan Frumkin (American, born 1926) Roberto Matta
Chilean, 1911-2002 Matta (Chilean, 1911-2002)
written by Michel Fardoulis-Lagrange (French, 1910-1994)
published by Georges Visat (French, 1910-2001) and Le Point Cardinal (French, 20th century)
printed by Fequet et Baudier (French, 20th century)