“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.
Mezzanotte floor lamp by Roberto Matta Paradisoterrestre Edition
By Paradisoterrestre, Roberto Matta
Located in Ozzano Dell'emilia, IT
Designed in the early 1970s - Paradisoterrestre Edition 2026 Materials: aluminium, PVC shade, plexiglass base Born in the early 1970s from the multifaceted imagination of surrealis...
Aluminum
Ore Tre Table Lamp by Roberto Matta Paradisoterrestre Edition
By Paradisoterrestre, Roberto Matta
Located in Ozzano Dell'emilia, IT
Designed in the early 1970s - Paradisoterrestre Edition 2026 Materials: aluminium, PVC shade, plexiglass base Born in the early 1970s from the multifaceted imagination of surrealis...
Aluminum
Rombo floor lamp by Roberto Matta Paradisoterrestre Edition
By Paradisoterrestre, Roberto Matta
Located in Ozzano Dell'emilia, IT
Designed in the early 1970s - Paradisoterrestre Edition 2026 Materials: gold-lacquered metal, fabric lampshade Born in the early 1970s from the multifaceted imagination of surreali...
Metal
Roberto Matta for Arredoluce Adjustable Ceiling Fixture in Brass, Italy, 1950
By Roberto Matta
Located in New York, NY
Classic Arredoluce ceiling fixture in brass and lacquered aluminum, it can be adjusted up or down with a tensioning mechanism. 2 are available, price is for 1.
Aluminum, Brass
Large Gill Table lamp by Roberto Pamio for Leucos, 1960
By Leucos, Roberto Pamio
Located in Rotterdam, NL
Large Gill table lamp designed by Roberto Pamio for Leucos in the 1960s. The lamp consists of two main parts; the metal cylinder shaped base and a diffuser in glass that is partly t...
Metal
Large Medusa Table Lamp by Roberto Pamio, 1970s Italy.
By Roberto Pamio
Located in Mexico City, CDMX
Circa 1970. We offer this rare Large Medusa table lamp designed by Roberto Pamio in Italy. Opaline and transparent blown Murano glass on a cast iron base. Iconic design from Pamio i...
Murano Glass
$2,681
H 7.09 in W 18.9 in D 18.9 in
Italian Sunburst Ceiling Light Fixture in Blue and Gilt Metal, 1950s
Located in Barcelona, ES
Mid-Century Modern blue metal and golden sunburst flush mount pendant light. Italy, 1950s. This eye-catching ceiling lamp features a blue metal shade surrounded by gilt metal thick r...
Aluminum, Metal
$5,720
H 74.81 in W 66.93 in D 15.75 in
'Bul-Bo' Floor Lamp By Roberto Gabetti & Aimaro Isola, Italy, 1960s
By Roberto Gabetti and Aimaro Isola
Located in Brussels, BE
'Bul-Bo' Floor Lamp By Roberto Gabetti & Aimaro Isola, Italy,1960s
Metal
Bronze Floor Lamp 'Matta' by french designer Alexandre Logé
By Alexandre Logé
Located in Paris, FR
"Matta" is a Designed large floor lamp in solid bronze, signed with the french artist’s mark of Alexandre logé Limited edition x 25. Numbered 2 / 25. Single LED bulb inside opening a...
Bronze
Gio Ponti for Arredoluce Rare Sole Flush Mount Ceiling Light, Italy, 1950s
By Arredoluce, Gio Ponti
Located in New York, NY
Gio Ponti for Arredoluce rare original 'Sole' flush mount ceiling light with brass structure and central round plexiglass or acrylic diffuser, Italy, circa 1957. This iconic moderni...
Metal, Brass
$4,290Sale Price|20% Off
H 29.53 in W 26.38 in D 13 in
Stilnovo Ceiling Lamp In Brass and Plexiglass, Italy 1950s
By Stilnovo
Located in Milan, IT
Stilnovo Ceiling Lamp In Brass and Plexiglass, Italy 1950s Carries Four Neon lamps. The lamp needs complete neon and transformers rewiring for US use.
Aluminum, Brass
Angelo Lelii for Arredoluce Chandelier in Hammered Brass
By Arredoluce, Angelo Lelii
Located in Waalwijk, NL
Angelo Lelii for Arredoluce, chandelier model 12369, brass, Italy, design circa 1951 Organic chandelier by Angelo Lelii designed for Arredoluce. Six leaves open towards the ceiling ...
Brass
$42,307
H 15.75 in Dm 32.68 in
Angelo Lelii Perforated Brass Leaf Chandelier for Arredoluce Italy 1950s
By Angelo Lelii, Arredoluce
Located in Munich, DE
Extremely rare, elegant and highly decorative Mid-Century Modern hammered and perforated brass leaf chandelier or pendant light. Model n° 12369. With six organic shaped, rotating lam...
Brass
1950's Italian Chandelier by Angelo Lelii for Arredoluce
By Angelo Lelii, Arredoluce
Located in Hanover, MA
Absolutely stunning 9 light chandelier with frosted glass candle shades and brass tapers designed in 1950 by Angelo Lelii for Arredoluce Monza. Mod...
Brass
Angelo Lelii Ceiling Lamp for Arredoluce, 1958
By Artemide, Vico Magistretti
Located in Lonigo, Veneto
Angelo Lelii ceiling lamp for Arredoluce, perspex and brass, Italy, 1958 Genial and controversial, Angelo Lelii is considered one of the gre...
Steel
Angelo Lelii Brass Chandelier for Arredoluce, 1950
By Angelo Lelii, Arredoluce
Located in Lonigo, Veneto
Angelo Lelii brass chandelier for Arredoluce, brass and glass, Italy, 1950. This brass chandelier by Angelo Lelii for Arredoluce, designed in 1950, exemplifies the refined engineeri...
Brass