“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.
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
$1,169Sale Price|58% Off
H 9 in W 6 in D 1 in
Horse, Ink on Paper by Indian Modern Artist Sunil Das "In Stock"
By Sunil Das
Located in Kolkata, West Bengal
Sunil Das - Horse - 9 x 6 inches ( unframed size ) Ink on Paper, 2012 Inclusive of shipment in ready to hang condition. Sunil Das ( 1939-2015) was a Master Modern Indian Artist fr...
Paper, Ink
$2,600
H 11 in W 10.5 in
Untitled, Etching on Paper by Modern Indian Artist Ganesh Pyne "In Stock"
By Ganesh Pyne
Located in Kolkata, West Bengal
Ganesh Pyne - Untitled AP - 6/32 Etching on Paper 11 x 10.5 inches, 1985 ( Unframed & Delivered ) Style : Initially, Pyne painted watercolors and sketches of misty mornings and ways...
Paper, Etching
$5,460
H 11 in W 14 in D 1 in
Untitled, Watercolor on Paper by Modern Artist Ganesh Haloi “In Stock”
By Ganesh Haloi
Located in Kolkata, West Bengal
Ganesh Haloi Untitled, Watercolor on Paper 11 x 14 inches 2011 ( Framed & Delivered ) Haloi’s abstract composition in ink exudes a meditative rhythm, where organic forms emerge thro...
Paper, Gouache, Handmade Paper
$650Sale Price|48% Off
H 28.25 in W 36 in D 0.5 in
Vintage 1960s Oriental Scenes Poster by Editions Rossignol, Framed, a Pair
Located in Plainview, NY
A two side wall art posters of 1960's editions Rossignol, produced in Montmorillon -Vienne in France. Both posters entitled " Les chretiens en orient - Les seigneurs et les paysans" ...
Glass, Wood, Paper
Oceans Apart
By Angele LaSalle
Located in East Hampton, NY
fun with Color Theory As seen at Art on Paper 2024 at The Mannix Project East Hampton NY 12"x12" (14"x14" framed) each These come in a white frame. Acrylic on Paper Artist Statement...
Acrylic, Archival Paper
$629Sale Price|20% Off
H 2.68 in W 2.56 in D 0.04 in
Contemporary Hiroshi Yasukawa Signed Abstract Artwork
By Hiroshi Yasukawa
Located in Roma, IT
Modern Hiroshi Yasukawa Signed Abstract Painting Important abstract minimalist work representing a circle crossed by a conceptual monochrome stripe typical of the great Japanese ar...
Paper, Oil
$8,900
H 17.5 in W 23 in D 1 in
Untitled, Dry Pastel on Paper by Artist Jogen Chowdhury "In Stock
By Jogen Chowdhury
Located in Kolkata, West Bengal
Jogen Chowdhury Untitled, Dry Pastel on Paper 17.5 x 23 inches (unframed size) ( Unframed & Delivered ) In this striking dry pastel work, he channels raw expression through bold, p...
Paper, Pastel
Cossack Dancers
By Wilhelm Hunt Diederich
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
Wilhelm Hunt Diederich, 'Cossack Dancers', cut paper silhouette, c. 1920. Signed 'WHD' in pencil, lower left image. Black, wove, cut paper, laid on ...
Laid Paper
$488Sale Price|45% Off
H 11.8 in W 11.8 in
Opening Nr. 21 (Abstract, Modern, Minimalism, Square, Albers, ~49% OFF)
Located in Kansas City, MO
Karl W. Wierspecker Opening Nr. 21 (Abstract, Modern, Minimalism, Square, Albers) Folding Object on Paper 1969 11.8 x 11.8 inches (30 x 30 cm) Edition: 200 Signed, numbered and dated...
Paper
Ocean Avenue
By Angele LaSalle
Located in East Hampton, NY
fun with Color Theory As seen at Art on Paper 2024 at The Mannix Project East Hampton NY 12"x12" (15"x15" framed) These come in a white frame. Acrylic on Paper Artist Statement: Pa...
Acrylic, Archival Paper
New Robe
Located in Atlanta, GA
Roman Zaslonov is a Russian Postwar & Contemporary artist who was born in 1962. Roman Zaslonov's work has been offered at auction multiple times. Only o...
Paper, Engraving
$2,819
H 10.6 in W 11.6 in D 1 in
Dream, Woodcut on Paper, Figurative, Edition 12/15 by Haren Das "In Stock"
By Haren Das
Located in Kolkata, West Bengal
Haren Das - Dream Woodcut Edition 12/15 10.6 x 11.6 inches, 1976 ( Unframed & Delivered ) Born in Dinajpur in present day Bangladesh on 1 February 1921, Das took a diploma in fine a...
Paper, Woodcut
Sold
H 9.18 in W 7.13 in D 0.12 in
Rare Vintage Exhibition Leaflet - R.S. Matta - Galerie di Dragon - 1958
By Roberto Matta
Located in Roma, IT
Exhibition Leaflet is an original rare vintage catalogue by the Chilean artist Roberto Sebastián Matta (1911-2002). This color artwork is the rare exhibition leaflet realized in occ...
Paper