Mercedes Matter Art
American, 1913-2001
Born in New York in 1913 to famed Philadelphia modernist Arthur B. Carles, Mercedes Matter grew up surrounded by art.
Throughout her youth Matter traveled to France and Italy with her family, where she was especially struck by the works of Giovanni Bellini. She later went on to study sculpture with Lu Duble at Bennett Junior College in Millbrook, New York, and with Maurice Sterne and Alexander Archipenko in New York City during her breaks from school. After finishing at Bennett Junior College, Matter began classes at the New York Art Students League with Hans Hofmann, who became a great mentor and friend to Matter. Hofmann’s painting classes brought the influence of the European avant-garde movements to Matter’s work.
In the late 1930s, Matter became a founding member of the American Abstract Artists group and worked for the Works Progress Administration with French artist Fernand Léger. Léger would later introduce Matter to her husband, Swiss photographer and designer Herbert Matter. The Matters became significant figures in the mid-20th century New York art scene, along with Jackson Pollock, Lee Krasner, Alexander Calder, and both Willem and Elaine de Kooning.
Matter was a member of the teaching faculty at the Philadelphia College of Art (now University of the Arts), Pratt Institute, and New York University. In 1964, she founded her own school, the New York Studio School of Drawings, Paintings, and Sculpture, after she noticed a lack of studio classes available to students. Matter considered the studio a quintessential form of study in art education. The school is still in operation today.
Matter has had solo exhibitions at Tanager Gallery, NY; Yale Norfolk, CT; Washington Art Association, CT; East Hampton Center for Contemporary Art, NY; the New York Studio School; and Salander-O’Reilly Galleries, NY. Her work can be found in the collections at the Corcoran Gallery, Washington, D.C.; Delaware Art Museum; Parrish Museum, NY; and the Whitney Museum of American Art, NY. She has received the Distinguished Teaching Award from the College Art Association; the Gottlieb Foundation Grant; the Ingram Merrill Foundation Grant; and the Tiffany & Co. Foundation Grant.
Find original Mercedes Matter paintings and other art on 1stDibs.
(Biography provided by Jim’s of Lambertville)
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Artist: Mercedes Matter
Mercedes Matter, New York School Abstract Figures
By Mercedes Matter
Located in New York, NY
Mercedes Carles Matter (1913 - 2001)
Untitled, circa 1937
Pastel on paper
16 x 13 1/2 inches
Estate stamped on the reverse
Provenance:
Estate of the artist
Spanierman Gallery, New York
Private Collection, Pennsylvania circa 2013
Private Collection, New York, 2021
Mercedes Matter was born in New York in 1913. Her father, the American modernist Arthur B. Carles, had studied with Matisse. Her mother, Mercedes de Cordoba, was a model for Edward Steichen. Ms. Matter grew up in Philadelphia, New York and Europe.
She began painting under her father's supervision at age 6, and studied art at Bennett College in Millbrook, N.Y., and then in New York City with Maurice Sterne, Alexander Archipenko and Hans Hofmann.
In the late 1930's, she was an original member of the American Abstract Artists organization and worked for the federal Works Progress Administration, assisting Fernand Léger on his mural for the French Line passenger ship company. Léger introduced her to Herbert Matter, the Swiss graphic designer and photographer, whom she married in 1939.
The Matters were active in the emerging New York art scene and also traveled frequently to Europe. Their closest friends included Jackson Pollock, Lee Krasner, Franz Kline, Philip Guston, Alexander Calder and Willem de Kooning. They were also close to Alberto Giacometti, who was an important artistic role model for Mrs. Matter and a frequent photographic subject for her husband.
Beginning in 1953, Mrs. Matter taught at the Philadelphia College of Art (now University of the Arts), Pratt Institute and New York University. Based on her teaching experiences she wrote an article for Art News in 1963 titled ''What's Wrong with U.S. Art Schools?'' In it, she lamented the phasing out of the extended studio classes required to initiate ''that painfully slow education of the senses,'' which she considered an artist's life work.
The article prompted a group of Pratt students to ask her to form a school based on her ideas, which led, in 1964, to the founding of the New York Studio School. Originally in a loft on Broadway, the school gained almost immediate support from the Kaplan Fund, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the Ford Foundation. It granted no degrees, had only studio classes and emphasized drawing from life. Its teachers, chosen by the students, included the artists Guston, Bradley Walker Tomlin, Charles Cajori, Louis Finkelstein...
Category
1930s Abstract Expressionist Mercedes Matter Art
Materials
Paper, Pastel, Oil Pastel
Rocks, Stonington, ME
By Mercedes Matter
Located in Lawrence, NY
Unsigned, Gifted the artist Charles Cajori by the artist. Accompanied by COA.
Mercedes Matter was destined for a life in art. She was the daughter of Mercedes de Cordoba, a former model for Edward Steichen and other members of the Photo-Secession, and Arthur B. Carles, an important early modernist American painter who studied the art of Paul Cézanne and Henri Matisse in Paris in the 1910s. This early and persistent exposure to modern art led Matter herself to begin painting at the age of six.
In the early 1930s, she studied with the artist Hans Hofmann, like nearly every important American abstract painter of the next generation. This German-born painter is of course famous for teaching the concepts of abstract painting that would define the New York School: the “push-pull” approach to composition and the focus on the picture plane.
During the Depression, Matter worked for the Works Progress Administration alongside Willem de Kooning, Arshile Gorky, and Lee Krasner. The project she and de Kooning collaborated on was directed by Fernand Léger, for whom she served as a translator.
In the early 1950s, Mercedes was among the first female members of the Club, an organization of downtown artists that held frequent discussion evenings; she was also a regular at the Cedar Tavern. For Mercedes, “The Club was marvelous. It brought together in one place, at one time, the greatest diversity of artists—as nothing had done before or has since. . . . The end of that marvelous time came when American art became big business...
Category
1960s Abstract Expressionist Mercedes Matter Art
Materials
Charcoal
Cubist Male Nude
By Mercedes Matter
Located in Miami, FL
This powerful Cubist male nude is rendered in long uninterrupted bold black strokes that draw our gaze like a magnet. Mercedes Matter was a female ar...
Category
1930s Cubist Mercedes Matter Art
Materials
Charcoal, Paper
"Bottles and Fruit"
By Mercedes Matter
Located in Lambertville, NJ
Jim’s of Lambertville is proud to offer this artwork by:
Mercedes Matter (1913 - 2001)
Born in New York in 1913 to famed Philadelphia Modernist, Arthur B. Carles, Mercedes Matter g...
Category
1980s Abstract Mercedes Matter Art
Materials
Board, Canvas, Oil
"Sea and Sky, Deer Isle"
By Mercedes Matter
Located in Lambertville, NJ
Jim’s of Lambertville is proud to offer this artwork by:
Best known as a painter of abstract still life and founder of the New York Studio School, Mercedes Matter was also a disting...
Category
Mid-20th Century Abstract Mercedes Matter Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil, Board
"Still Life"
By Mercedes Matter
Located in Lambertville, NJ
Jim’s of Lambertville is proud to offer this artwork by:
Mercedes Matter (1913 - 2001)
Mercedes Matter, daughter of noted Philidelphia artist Arthur B Carles...
Category
20th Century Abstract Mercedes Matter Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
"Flowers and Fruit"
By Mercedes Matter
Located in Lambertville, NJ
Jim’s of Lambertville is proud to offer this artwork by:
Mercedes Matter (1913 - 2001)
Best known as a painter of abstract still life and founder of the New York Studio School, M...
Category
20th Century Abstract Mercedes Matter Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
"Deer Isle, Maine"
By Mercedes Matter
Located in Lambertville, NJ
Jim’s of Lambertville is proud to offer this artwork by:
Mercedes Matter (1913 - 2001)
Best known as a painter of abstract still life and founder of the New York Studio School, M...
Category
1950s Abstract Expressionist Mercedes Matter Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
"Still Life with Fish"
By Mercedes Matter
Located in Lambertville, NJ
Estate Stamp on Verso Mercedes Matter, daughter of noted Philidelphia artist Arthur B Carles, wife of swiss born photographer and graphic designer Her...
Category
20th Century Mercedes Matter Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
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2013 Bruno Surdo: Revelations, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL
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A painting by Mercedes Matter. This Untitled, abstract, oil on canvas painting in executed in a bright and colorful palette by Post War artist Mercedes...
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20th Century Abstract Expressionist Mercedes Matter Art
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Mercedes Matter art for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic Mercedes Matter art available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Mercedes Matter in canvas, fabric, oil paint and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 20th century and is mostly associated with the abstract style. Not every interior allows for large Mercedes Matter art, so small editions measuring 11 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of John von Wicht, Edward Dugmore, and Carl Holty. Mercedes Matter art prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $4,950 and tops out at $168,750, while the average work can sell for $55,688.