Untitled

Roberto Matta

1941 · Graphite and colored crayons on paper · Modern and Contemporary Art

This fine watercolor exemplifies the Surrealist style that Matta created for himself during the summer of 1938 in France in the company of Yves Tanguy, André Breton and others. Like Tanguy and Breton, Matta emigrated to the United States and exhibited with the Surrealists in exile in New York. Although it is impossible to create a single narrative from Matta’s picture, horror of pursuit and fear of capture dominate the scene. During the early 1940s, Matta was very influential among young American artists, especially William Baziotes, Robert Motherwell, and Jackson Pollock.

Artist

Roberto Matta

Date

1941

Medium

Graphite and colored crayons on paper

Department

Modern and Contemporary Art

Credit line

The Muriel Kallis Steinberg Newman Collection, Gift of Muriel Kallis Newman, 2006