“The function of art,” the Surrealist Roberto Matta once stated, “is to unveil the enormous economic, cultural and emotional forces that materially interact in our lives and that constitute the real space in which we live.” In his paintings, Matta sought to expose those forces through the Surrealist practice of automatism, creating work in a free-associative state intended to conjure the unconscious.
After studying architecture in his native Chile, Matta, then 22, chose to pursue the field in Paris, where he mingled with stars of the avant-garde like Gertrude Stein, Salvador Dalí and Walter Gropius. In the late 1930s, he abandoned Paris, together with his job at Le Corbusier’s studio and (for a time) his career, for modern art’s new epicenter, New York City. There, he became a colleague of art legends like Marcel Duchamp and Arshile Gorky.
Although celebrated primarily for his work as a painter, Matta was an equally talented furniture designer. His furniture pieces, like his artworks, are the stuff of dreams. The back of his totem chair, for example, is composed of smiling, cartoonish creatures stacked on top of each other. In his MAgriTTA armchair, the top half of a plush green apple sticks out of large black bowler in homage to its namesake, the Belgian Surrealist René Magritte.
But perhaps the piece that most truly embodies his artistic philosophy is his 1966 Mallite modular system: a collection of spongy, undulating sofas and lounges that can be fitted together to form a puzzle-like room divider. The work, an original edition of which is in MoMA’s permanent collection, has in recent decades been a hard-to-find collectors’ item — until 2019, when Italian design brand Paradisoterrestre issued a reedition, available through Duplex.
Browse Roberto Matta's paintings and furniture designs on 1stDibs.
Raising A Glass, Surrealist Etching by Roberto Matta
By Roberto Matta
Located in Long Island City, NY
Roberto Matta, Chilean (1911 - 2002) - Raising A Glass, Year: circa 1943, Medium: Etching, Image Size: 9.75 x 8 inches, Size: 15 x 11.75 in. (38.1 x 29.85 cm), Reference: Unrecorde...
Etching
$2,800Sale Price|20% Off
Centre Noeuds (Sabatier 393), Roberto Matta
By Roberto Matta
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Roberto Matta (1912-2002) Title: Centre Noeuds (Sabatier 393) Year: 1974 Edition: 38/125, plus proofs Medium: Etching on Arches paper Size: 23.875 x 17.5 inches Inscription: ...
Etching
$1,600
Un Autre Apres from the Femme Portfolio, Surrealist Etching by Roberto Matta
By Roberto Matta
Located in Long Island City, NY
This compelling 1973 etching by Roberto Matta explores themes of transformation and the human form through Latin American Surrealism and expressive nude imagery. Matta’s distinctive ...
Etching
La Dulce Aqua Vita, Signed Surrealist Etching by Roberto Matta
By Roberto Matta
Located in Long Island City, NY
"La Dulce Aqua Vita" means the "Sweet Water of Life". In this colorful print, Chilean Surrealist, Roberto Matta's surreal figure turns an urn upside-down to pour out the magical wate...
Handmade Paper, Etching
$2,800Sale Price|20% Off
Centre Noeuds (Sabatier 393), Roberto Matta
By Roberto Matta
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Roberto Matta (1912-2002) Title: Centre Noeuds (Sabatier 393) Year: 1974 Edition: 38/125, plus proofs Medium: Etching on Arches paper Size: 23.875 x 17.5 inches Inscription: ...
Etching
"Centre Noeuds" planche #10
By Roberto Matta
Located in San Francisco, CA
This artwork titled "Centre Noeuds" plate #10, 1974, is an original color etching with aquatint on Japan nacre paper by renown Chilean artist Roberto Sebastian Matta, 1911-2002. It i...
Aquatint
$2,800Sale Price|20% Off
Centre Noeuds (Sabatier 393), Roberto Matta
By Roberto Matta
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Roberto Matta (1912-2002) Title: Centre Noeuds (Sabatier 393) Year: 1974 Edition: 38/125, plus proofs Medium: Etching on Arches paper Size: 23.875 x 17.5 inches Inscription: ...
Etching
L'eau est Mana, Surrealist Lithograph by Roberto Matta
By Roberto Matta
Located in Long Island City, NY
Roberto Matta, Chilean (1911 - 2002) - L'eau est Mana, Year: 1974, Medium: Lithograph on Arches Paper, signed and numbered in pencil, Edition: 50/200, Image Size: 21.5 x 30 inche...
Lithograph
Les Manifestes du Surrealisme, Surrealist Two Etchings by Roberto Matta
By Roberto Matta
Located in Long Island City, NY
Roberto Matta, Chilean (1911 -2002) - Les Manifestes du Surrealisme Diptych, Year: 1946, Medium: Two Etchings, titled in the plate, Edition: 58, Image Size: 5.5 x 4 inches, Size:...
Etching
$2,800Sale Price|20% Off
Centre Noeuds (Sabatier 393), Roberto Matta
By Roberto Matta
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Roberto Matta (1912-2002) Title: Centre Noeuds (Sabatier 393) Year: 1974 Edition: 38/125, plus proofs Medium: Etching on Arches paper Size: 23.875 x 17.5 inches Inscription: ...
Etching
Centre Noeuds - Portfolio of Ten Lithographs
By Roberto Matta
Located in New York, NY
Centre Noeuds (Centre Knots) Portfolio, 1974 Hand-Signed Etching, aquatint in colors/Arches paper, with title page, colophon and poem by Antonin Artaud. In-portfolio 14 x 10 1/2 in E...
Lithograph
Attulima, Surrealist Lithograph by Roberto Matta
By Roberto Matta
Located in Long Island City, NY
Roberto Matta, Chilean (1911 - 2002) - Attulima, Year: 1954, Medium: Lithograph, Edition: 211, Image Size: 10.75 x 8.5 inches, Size: 10.75 x 17 in. (27.31 x 43.18 cm), Publisher: E...
Lithograph
$9,000
Surrealist Figure in Space-scape, Surrealist Wax Crayon Drawing by Roberto Matta
By Roberto Matta
Located in Long Island City, NY
Roberto Matta, Chilean (1911 -2002) - Surrealist Figure in Space-scape, Year: 1956, Medium: Wax Crayon on paper, unsigned, Size: 13 x 10 in. (33.02 x 25.4 cm), Frame Size: 20.5 x...
Wax Crayon
$2,800Sale Price|20% Off
Centre Noeuds (Sabatier 393), Roberto Matta
By Roberto Matta
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Roberto Matta (1912-2002) Title: Centre Noeuds (Sabatier 393) Year: 1974 Edition: 38/125, plus proofs Medium: Etching on Arches paper Size: 23.875 x 17.5 inches Inscription: ...
Etching
De trace de pas de trace de…
By Roberto Matta
Located in Fairlawn, OH
De trace de pas de trace de… Color etching with aquatint, 1966 From: Monsour and Matta, Les Damnations, 1966 (11 plates, this one of 7 hors text images) Edition: 85 portfolios in the...
Etching, Aquatint
Hecatombe de Toros
By Roberto Matta
Located in San Francisco, CA
This artwork titled "Hecatombe de Toros" 1971, is an original color lithograph on Arches paper by renown Chilean artist Roberto Sebastian Matta, 1911-2002. It is hand signed and numb...
Lithograph
The New School, Surrealist Suite of 10 etchings by Roberto Matta
By Roberto Matta
Located in Long Island City, NY
Roberto Matta, Chilean (1911 - 2002) - The New School, Year: 1943, Medium: Suite of 10 etchings, lacking cover sheet, Image Size: 7.75 x 6 inches, Size: 15 x 11.75 in. (38.1 x 29.8...
Etching
Cosmicstrip I, Aquatint Etching by Roberto Matta
By Roberto Matta
Located in Long Island City, NY
Cosmicstrip I by Roberto Matta, Chilean (1911–2002) Date: 1959 Etching, signed and numbered in pencil Edition of 21/50 Image Size: 14.75 x 19.25 inches Frame Size: 23.75 x 28 inches ...
Etching, Aquatint
La Danse de la Mort, Surrealist Suite of 8 Aquatint Etchings by Matta
By Roberto Matta
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Roberto Matta, Chilean (1911 - 2002) Title: La Danse de la Mort - Planche 1-8 Year: 1972 Medium: Suite of 8 Aquatint Etchings, Each Signed and numbered in pencil Edition: 41/...
Etching, Aquatint
$8,500
La Une a L'h Pile (Head to Head), Surrealist Aquatint Etching by Roberto Matta
By Roberto Matta
Located in Long Island City, NY
An early large-scale work by Chilean artist Roberto Matta. In this black-and-white surrealist piece, various figures can be seen in various acts. Signed and numbered in pencil. This edition is not from the Arabic numbered edition of 40. La Une a L’h Pile (Head to...
Etching, Aquatint
Cosmicstrip IV, Surrealist Aquatint Etching by Roberto Matta
By Roberto Matta
Located in Long Island City, NY
Cosmicstrip IV by Roberto Matta, Chilean (1911–2002) Date: 1959 Etching, signed and numbered in pencil Edition of 21/50 Image Size: 14.75 x 19.25 inches Frame Size: 23.75 x 28 inches...
Etching, Aquatint
Cosmicstrip III, Aquatint Etching by Roberto Matta
By Roberto Matta
Located in Long Island City, NY
Cosmicstrip III by Roberto Matta, Chilean (1911–2002) Date: 1959 Etching, signed and numbered in pencil Edition of 21/50 Image Size: 14.75 x 19.25 inches Frame Size: 23.75 x 28 inche...
Etching, Aquatint
$10,462Sale Price|25% Off
La Dulce Aqua Vita (large signed carborundum etching on hand made paper)
By Roberto Matta
Located in Aventura, FL
Carborundum etching on hand made paper. Hand signed lower front by Roberto Matta. Edition 111/125. Published by Nordstamp. Artwork is in overall excellent condition. Certificate...
Paper, Etching
$716Sale Price|20% Off
Roberto Matta, The Barrel Organ, from Ediciones Poligrafa, 1979
By Roberto Matta
Located in Southampton, NY
This exquisite lithograph by Roberto Matta (1911–2002), titled El organo de Berberia (The Barrel Organ), from the album Ediciones Poligrafa, Barcelona - Redfern Gallery, London, orig...
Lithograph
Foot Musik
By Roberto Matta
Located in Östermalm, Stockholms län
Artwork size: 56 x 58 cm. Frame size: 76 x 78 cm. Free shipment worldwide. Archive number (P90/36) Acquired directly from the artist. “The heart is an eye,” writes Nobel laureate Octavio Paz in an essay on Matta’s paintings. Matta creates a world coloured both by a sunny faith in the future and by visions of impending doom. Roberto Sebastian Echaurren Antonio Matta, who died aged 91 on 23 November 2002, was born in Santiago, Chile, on 11 November 1911 into a family with Spanish, French and Basque roots, and raised in an atmosphere of religiosity. By the age of 21 he had graduated and begun work as an architect, but his leisure time he devoted to sketching and painting. In 1933 he travelled to Europe for the first time, visiting Greece, Yugoslavia, Italy and other countries, and subsequently taking the initiative to collaborate with the architect, Le Corbusier. As time passed, however, Matta’s enthusiasm for a career in architecture waned, and he began to devote himself full-time to art, making early acquaintances with surrealists such as Max Ernst, Salvador Dalí, André Breton and others. Between 1939 and 1948 Matta, like many of his artistic contemporaries, lived in self-imposed exile in the USA, but, after almost 10 years’ absence from Europe, he returned to make first Rome and then, a few years later, Paris his home. Throughout most of the rest of his life Matta commuted between his studio in Paris and his creative refuge in the monastery outside Rome. And it is here, in Italy, that he produced his greatest paintings. Matta’s first retrospective in Sweden was organised in 1956 when his works were exhibited in what was then Galerie Colibri – run by, among others, the artist C O Hultén at number 36 Södra Förstadsgatan in Malmö, Sweden. This was also the time when Matta began to collaborate with poets and other artists in Sweden. He produced the illustrations for Lasse Söderberg’s first anthology of poems, Akrobaterna (“The Acrobats”), published in 1955, and was also responsible for the cover of the Swedish art and literary magazine Salamander. In 1959 the first museum exhibition of Matta’s work in Europe was arranged at the Museum of Modern Art (Moderna Museet) in Stockholm. Held under the aegis of Pontus Hultén, it was entitled “Fifteen Forms of Doubt” and included 15 or so gigantic paintings...
Mixed Media
The Voices
By Roberto Matta
Located in Paris, FR
Etching and aquatint, 1964 Edition : 9/24 Publisher : Le Point Cardinal (Paris) Printer : Georges Visat (Paris) Catalog : [Sabatier 1975 68.123] 32.50 cm. x 25.50 cm. 12.8 in. x 10....
Etching, Aquatint
$23,600Sale Price|20% Off
THE MIND BEATENS (ORIGINAL DRAWING)
By Roberto Matta
Located in Aventura, FL
Original color drawing on paper. Hand signed lower front by Roberto Matta. Image size 12 x 16 inches. Frame size approx 23.25 x 27.5 inches. Artwork is in overall excellent co...
Paper, Color Pencil
original lithograph
By Roberto Matta
Located in Henderson, NV
Medium: original lithograph. Printed in Paris by Mourlot and published by Pierre à Feu and Maeght Editeur for the Marcel Duchamp / André Breton project Surréalisme en 1947. Issued in...
Lithograph
La Dulce Aqua Vita
By Roberto Matta
Located in Hollywood, FL
Artist: Roberto Matta Title: La Dulce Aqua Vita Medium: Carborundum Etching on Handmade Paper Signed: Hand Signed Edition Number: 17/125 Measurements: 47" x 41" Year: 2002 Publ...
Etching
Tout se Tient - Lithograph by Roberto Sebastian Matta - 1975
By Roberto Matta
Located in Roma, IT
T'ou't se tient is an Artwork realized in 1975 by Roberto Sebastián Antonio Matta Echaurren (Santiago, Chile, 1911 - Civitavecchia, Italy, 2002). Colored Litograph on paper.Realize...
Lithograph
"Centre Noeuds" planche #3
By Roberto Matta
Located in San Francisco, CA
This artwork titled "Centre Noeuds" plate #3 1974, is an original color etching with aquatint on Japan nacre paper by renown Chilean artist Roberto Sebastian Matta, 1911-2002. It is ...
Aquatint
The Voices
By Roberto Matta
Located in Paris, FR
Etching and aquatint, 1964 Edition : 9/24 Publisher : Le Point Cardinal (Paris) Printer : Georges Visat (Paris) Catalog : [Sabatier 1975 67.118] 32.50 cm. x 25.50 cm. 12.8 in. x 10....
Etching, Aquatint
The Voices
By Roberto Matta
Located in Paris, FR
Etching and aquatint, 1964 Edition : 9/24 Publisher : Le Point Cardinal (Paris) Printer : Georges Visat (Paris) Catalog : [Sabatier 1975 68.121] 32.50 cm. x 25.50 cm. 12.8 in. x 10....
Etching, Aquatint
The Voices
By Roberto Matta
Located in Paris, FR
Etching and aquatint, 1964 Edition : 9/24 Publisher : Le Point Cardinal (Paris) Printer : Georges Visat (Paris) 32.50 cm. x 25.50 cm. 12.8 in. x 10.04 in. (paper) 28.50 cm. x 22.00 ...
Etching, Aquatint
Minded Mind, Surrealist Suite of Six Lithographs by Roberto Matta
By Roberto Matta
Located in Long Island City, NY
This original 1966 lithograph by Roberto Matta captures the Surrealist master’s exploration of psychological landscapes and political consciousness through abstract biomorphic forms....
Lithograph
$880Sale Price|20% Off
FOG, GOG, AND MAGOG
By Roberto Matta
Located in Santa Monica, CA
ROBERTO MATTA (1911-2002) FOG, GOG, AND MAGOG 1971 Color lithograph. Plate 1 from “Fog Gog, and Magog” 1971. Signed in pencil and numbered. This work is number 92 from the edition o...
Lithograph
"T'ou't se tient" original lithograph
By Roberto Matta
Located in Henderson, NV
Medium: original lithograph. Issued in 1975 for XXe Siecle (issue no. 45), published in Paris by San Lazzaro. Sheet size 12 1/8 x 9 1/2 inches (310 x 240mm). Not signed.
Lithograph
$1,200
Untitled from Le Surrealisme en 1947, Surrealist Lithograph by Roberto Matta
By Roberto Matta
Located in Long Island City, NY
Roberto Matta, Chilean (1911 - 2002) - Untitled from Le Surrealisme en 1947, Year: 1947, Medium: Lithograph, Edition: 950, Size: 9 x 7.75 in. (22.86 x 19.69 cm), Printer: Mourlot, P...
Lithograph
"Centre Noeuds" planche #1
By Roberto Matta
Located in San Francisco, CA
This artwork titled "Centre Noeuds" plate #1, 1974, is an original color etching with aquatint on Japan nacre paper by renown Chilean artist Roberto Sebastian Matta, 1911-2002. It is...
Aquatint
Tout se Tient - Lithograph by Roberto Sebastian Matta - 1975
By Roberto Matta
Located in Roma, IT
T'ou't se tient is an Artwork realized in 1975 by Roberto Sebastián Antonio Matta Echaurren (Santiago, Chile, 1911 - Civitavecchia, Italy, 2002). Colored Litograph on paper.Realize...
Lithograph
$1,441
Original poster of Roberto Matta - May 68 : Disciples occupy the discipline
By Roberto Matta
Located in PARIS, FR
Original poster of Roberto Matta created in May 68, with the slogan: Disciples occupy the discipline. For a revolutionary discipline. Born on November 11, ...
Linen, Paper, Lithograph
$796Sale Price|20% Off
Roberto Matta, The Black Sun of Melancholy, from XXe siecle, 1975
By Roberto Matta
Located in Southampton, NY
This exquisite lithograph by Roberto Matta (1911–2002), titled Le Soleil Noir de la Melancolie (The Black Sun of Melancholy), from the album XXe siecle, Nouvelle serie, XXXVIIe Annee...
Lithograph
"Centre Noeuds" planche #9
By Roberto Matta
Located in San Francisco, CA
This artwork titled "Centre Noeuds" plate #9, 1974, is an original color etching with aquatint on Japan nacre paper by renown Chilean artist Roberto Sebastian Matta, 1911-2002. It is...
Aquatint
Tout se Tient - Lithograph by Roberto Sebastian Matta - 1975
By Roberto Matta
Located in Roma, IT
T'ou't se tient is an Artwork realized in 1975 by Roberto Sebastián Antonio Matta Echaurren (Santiago, Chile, 1911 - Civitavecchia, Italy, 2002). Colored Litograph on paper.Realize...
Lithograph
Tout se Tient - Lithograph by R.S. Matta - 1975
By Roberto Matta
Located in Roma, IT
T'ou't se tient is a print realized by the Chilean artist Roberto Sebastian Matta (1911-2002). This color lithograph on wove paper, was edited by the French magazine "XXe Siécle",...
Lithograph
$3,000
12 AM from L'Arc Obscur des Heures, Surrealist Aquatint Etching by Roberto Matta
By Roberto Matta
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Roberto Matta, Chilean (1911 - 2002) Title: 12 AM from L'Arc Obscur des Heures Year: 1975 Medium: Aquatint Etching, Signed and numbered in pencil Edition: 51/125, XXXIII Imag...
Etching, Aquatint
Sans Titre
By Roberto Matta
Located in San Francisco, CA
This artwork titled "Sans Titre" 1968, is an original color lithograph on Arches paper by renown Chilean artist Roberto Sebastian Matta, 1911-2002. It is hand signed and numbered 30/...
Lithograph
Sans Titre, Surrealist Aquatint Etching by Roberto Matta
By Roberto Matta
Located in Long Island City, NY
This raucous scene by Latin American Surrealist Roberto Matta shows leaping nude figures flying through the air above what look like boulders. Their bodies are warped and stretched a...
Etching, Aquatint
Matta.Entretiens... - Rare Book illustrated by Roberto Matta - 1987
By Roberto Matta
Located in Roma, IT
G. Ferrari, Matta. Entretiens Morphologiques. Notebook N°1, 1936-1944 , First Edition, Sistan, London 1987. In this book, there is an original lithograph by Matta, hand-signed and n...
Paper
MATTA - 10 EROTIC ETCHINGS - New School Portfolio
By Roberto Matta
Located in Santa Monica, CA
ROBERTO MATTA (Chilean 1911- 2002) NEW SCHOOL PORTFOLIO (1943-5) (Sabatier 1-7, 4 prints not recorded by Sabatier) Portfolio with complete set of 10 etch...
Etching
Hecatombe de Toros
By Roberto Matta
Located in San Francisco, CA
This artwork titled "Hecatombe de Toros" 1971, is an original color lithograph on Arches paper by renown Chilean artist Roberto Sebastian Matta, 1911-2002. It is hand signed and numb...
Lithograph
Totem, Surrealist Lithograph with Hand-Coloring by Roberto Matta
By Roberto Matta
Located in Long Island City, NY
Roberto Matta, Chilean (1911 - 2002) - Totem, Year: 1955-56, Medium: Lithograph with Hand-Coloring, Image Size: 25.5 x 18 inches, Size: 26 x 18.75 in. (66.04 x 47.63 cm), Frame S...
Lithograph
$2,800Sale Price|20% Off
Centre Noeuds (Sabatier 393), Roberto Matta
By Roberto Matta
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Roberto Matta (1912-2002) Title: Centre Noeuds (Sabatier 393) Year: 1974 Edition: 38/125, plus proofs Medium: Etching on Arches paper Size: 23.875 x 17.5 inches Inscription: ...
Etching
$2,800Sale Price|20% Off
Centre Noeuds (Sabatier 393), Roberto Matta
By Roberto Matta
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Roberto Matta (1912-2002) Title: Centre Noeuds (Sabatier 393) Year: 1974 Edition: 38/125, plus proofs Medium: Etching on Arches paper Size: 23.875 x 17.5 inches Inscription: ...
Etching
"Centre Noeuds" planche #5
By Roberto Matta
Located in San Francisco, CA
This artwork titled "Centre Noeuds" plate #5, 1974, is an original color etching with aquatint on Japan nacre paper by renown Chilean artist Roberto Sebastian Matta, 1911-2002. It is...
Aquatint
Untitled
By Roberto Matta
Located in Paris, FR
Etching and aquatint Edition : ESSAI 66.00 cm. x 50.00 cm. 25.98 in. x 19.69 in. (paper) 40.00 cm. x 31.50 cm. 15.75 in. x 12.4 in. (image) Handsigned by the artist in pencil Certi...
Etching, Aquatint
$2,800
10PM from L'Arc Obscur des Heures, Surrealist Etching by Roberto Matta
By Roberto Matta
Located in Long Island City, NY
Roberto Matta, Chilean (1911 - 2002) - 10PM from L'Arc Obscur des Heures, Year: 1975, Medium: Etching with Aquatint, signed and numbered in pencil, Edition: 89/125, Image Size: 1...
Etching, Aquatint
Porol-Vua, Signed Surrealist Lithograph by Roberto Matta
By Roberto Matta
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Roberto Matta, Chilean (1911 - 2002) Title: Porol-Vua Year: 1978 Medium: Lithograph, signed and numbered in pencil Edition: 97/100 Image Size: 20 x 28.5 inches Size: 22 x 29....
Lithograph
"Centre Noeuds" planche #6
By Roberto Matta
Located in San Francisco, CA
This artwork titled "Centre Noeuds" plate #6 1974, is an original color etching with aquatint on Japan nacre paper by renown Chilean artist Roberto Sebastian Matta, 1911-2002. It is ...
Aquatint
$796Sale Price|20% Off
Roberto Matta, The Voices of Silence, from XXe siecle, 1976
By Roberto Matta
Located in Southampton, NY
This exquisite lithograph by Roberto Matta (1911–2002), titled Les Voix du Silence (The Voices of Silence), from the album XXe Siecle, Nouvelle serie, XXXVIIIe Annee, No. 46, origina...
Lithograph