Roberto Matta

Roberto Matta’s phantasmagorical, large-scale paintings bridged the figurative dreamscapes of Surrealism and the emotive gestures of Abstract Expressionism. The artist’s vivid, imposing canvases feature a melange of geometric and biomorphic shapes that occasionally cohere into representational forms. Matta often employed multiple perspectives to keep his compositions fluid and dynamic, and his style influenced artists including Jackson Pollock and Robert Motherwell. He studied architecture and interior design in his native Chile, then developed his signature style on trips to Europe and the United States, during which he met artists such as Arshile Gorky and Salvador Dalí. Matta’s work has been exhibited widely in cities including New York, London, Santiago, Paris, Berlin, Tokyo, and Rome and belongs in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Tate, the Guggenheim Museum, and Moderna Museet, among many others. His pieces have sold for seven figures on the secondary market.