Matta - Under the Influence New York Monday, March 31, 2008 | Phillips

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  • Artist Biography

    Matta

    Chilean • 1911 - 2002

    After graduating from university in Santiago in 1935 with a degree in architecture, Roberto Matta traveled to Europe where he met André Breton, the founder of the Surrealist movement in Europe. In 1938, he began painting and moved to the United States for ten years. During this period he sought to evoke the human psyche in his work, inspired by Freudian psychoanalysis. Matta's works became increasingly dominated by a socio-political element, which broke from the conventions of Surrealism.

    Matta was also a seminal figure in Abstract Expressionism but broke away from this too to develop a highly personal artistic vision. His mature works blend abstraction with elements of figuration and fantastically-conceived, multi-dimensional space. He was heavily involved in the social movements of the 1960s and '70s and a strong supporter of Salvador Allende's socialist government.

    View More Works

115

Explication Picturale avec la Metaphysique Sexodentale

1965
Graphite and conte crayon on paper.
19 3/4 x 25 1/2 in. (50.2 x 64.8 cm).

Signed and titled “Matta Explication Picturale avec la Metaphysique Sexodentale” lower right; dated “65” lower left.

Estimate
$15,000 - 20,000 

Sold for $11,250

Under the Influence

31 Mar 2008, 10am & 2pm
New York