Roberto Matta

ROBERTO MATTA (Santiago de Chile, 1911 - Civitavecchia, Italy, 2002).
"Aide", 1993.
Mixed media (acrylic, pastel and fusain) on marouflé paper adhered canvas.
Signed.
Enclosed certificate of "Archives de l' ouvre de Matta".
Measurements: 135 × 66 cm.

Work of great lyricism and gestural energy, in which Roberto Matta displays a figure of hybrid character, between the human, the mythical and the dreamlike. The silhouette, constructed by means of rapid charcoal lines, pink glazes, luminous yellows and green accents, seems suspended in an undefined space, more mental than physical, typical of the artist's visionary universe.

The title, "Aide", introduces a suggestive reading around the idea of help, accompaniment or protective presence. The figure, with a fluctuating anatomy and a barely hinted face, is integrated into a vibrant atmosphere where color acts as an enveloping energy. The combination of acrylic, pastel and fusain gives the work a special richness of textures, between transparency, nervous lines and pulverized matter.

Roberto Matta was one of the great renovators of 20th century painting. Linked to André Breton's circle along with artists such as Duchamp and Tanguy, he actively participated in the development of the surrealist language and, during his stay in New York in the 1940s, he had a decisive influence on the development of abstract expressionism.

Throughout his career he exhibited in leading institutions and galleries in Europe and the United States, and was the subject of important retrospectives. His work is part of the collections of museums such as the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Tate Gallery in London, the Centre Pompidou in Paris and the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid.