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Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts

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Roberto Matta

Untitled

1945

On View in Gertrude Bernoudy Gallery, Room 4

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Chilean-born Roberto Matta was one of the youngest members of the Surrealist group in Paris before he emigrated to New York City in 1939 to escape the onslaught of World War II. As a peer of the artists who would go on to become the Abstract Expressionists, Matta was uniquely positioned to introduce European Surrealist ideas to artists working in New York in the 1940s. He became known for his representations of the human psyche as a three-dimensional environment or abstracted landscape. In the drawing, Lambeaux Iron-Oniriques, fluid organic forms resemble both the microscopic—human cells—as well as the monumental and geological—trees, the sun, and an erupting volcano. Matta often depicted volcanos as a metaphor for the outpouring of explosive internal emotions after he observed the powerful landscapes of Mexico during a 1941 visit. In the mid- 1940s his images of humanoid figures engaged in ritual practices or undergoing disturbing bodily transformations reflected his growing concern for the fate of humankind in light of the violence of weaponized technology during World War II. This can be seen in the untitled drawing, in which figures do not interact with one another but with transparent, impenetrable orbs, planes, and structures. [Permanent collection label, 2019]

  • Artist Roberto Matta (French, b. Chile, 1911–2002)
  • Title Untitled
  • Date 1945
  • Medium Pencil and crayon on paper
  • Dimensions unframed | 14 1/2 x 20 1/8 in.
  • Credit line Gift of Joseph Pulitzer, Jr., 1965
  • Object number WU 4282
  • Currently on View Gertrude Bernoudy Gallery, Room 4

Artists in Exile: European Surrealists in the US during and after World War II
Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University in St. Louis, 09/01/2023

Dada and Surrealism: Rethinking Reason
Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University in St. Louis, 01/28/2011 - 04/18/2011

Caught By Politics: Art of the 1930s and 1940s
Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University in St. Louis, 01/19/2001 - 03/18/2001

Modern Drawings and Watercolors
Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University in St. Louis, 03/26/1983 - 05/29/1983

Matta: The First Decade
Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University (Waltham, Massachusetts), 05/09/1982 - 06/20/1982

Old and Modern Master Drawings
Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University in St. Louis, 08/22/1980 - 09/21/1980

1965
Mr. Joseph Pulitzer, Jr.

Inscription Recto, lower right:

This artwork record may be incomplete or need refinement. Our staff actively researches the collection and revises records when new information is available. If you have questions or comments about this record, please contact us.

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