“The function of art,” the Surrealist Roberto Matta once stated, “is to unveil the enormous economic, cultural and emotional forces that materially interact in our lives and that constitute the real space in which we live.” In his paintings, Matta sought to expose those forces through the Surrealist practice of automatism, creating work in a free-associative state intended to conjure the unconscious.
After studying architecture in his native Chile, Matta, then 22, chose to pursue the field in Paris, where he mingled with stars of the avant-garde like Gertrude Stein, Salvador Dalí and Walter Gropius. In the late 1930s, he abandoned Paris, together with his job at Le Corbusier’s studio and (for a time) his career, for modern art’s new epicenter, New York City. There, he became a colleague of art legends like Marcel Duchamp and Arshile Gorky.
Although celebrated primarily for his work as a painter, Matta was an equally talented furniture designer. His furniture pieces, like his artworks, are the stuff of dreams. The back of his totem chair, for example, is composed of smiling, cartoonish creatures stacked on top of each other. In his MAgriTTA armchair, the top half of a plush green apple sticks out of large black bowler in homage to its namesake, the Belgian Surrealist René Magritte.
But perhaps the piece that most truly embodies his artistic philosophy is his 1966 Mallite modular system: a collection of spongy, undulating sofas and lounges that can be fitted together to form a puzzle-like room divider. The work, an original edition of which is in MoMA’s permanent collection, has in recent decades been a hard-to-find collectors’ item — until 2019, when Italian design brand Paradisoterrestre issued a reedition, available through Duplex.
Browse Roberto Matta's paintings and furniture designs on 1stDibs.
Roberto Matta Margarita Aluminium Armchair Paradisoterrestre Limited Edition
By Paradisoterrestre, Roberto Matta
Located in Ozzano Dell'emilia, IT
Designed in 1971 - Paradisoterrestre Edition 2019 This “functional work of art” represents in an exemplary way the concept of Ultramobile, operation conceived by Dino Gavina in 1971...
Aluminum
Roberto Matta Margarita Bronze Armchair Paradisoterrestre Limited Edition
By Roberto Matta, Paradisoterrestre
Located in Ozzano Dell'emilia, IT
Designed in 1971 - Paradisoterrestre Edition 2019 This “functional work of art” represents in an exemplary way the concept of Ultramobile, operation conceived by Dino Gavina in 1971 with the aim of adapting in a surprising way the surrealist object to daily use. Sacco Alato was born in foundry while making Margarita, casting a bag of concrete and splitting it in two. Lacking any other props, the big road rocks provided the feet for this seat/sculpture. Almost 50 years after the first prototypes and the very few works produced by Simon International, the re-edition of Sacco Alato in the historical...
Bronze
Roberto Matta Amatta resin armchair, limited Edition Paradisoterrestre
By Paradisoterrestre, Roberto Matta
Located in Ozzano Dell'emilia, IT
Amatta is a resin armchair with sinuous, fluid, soft and rounded lines, created in 1974 by Roberto Matta. He cuddled up in the Amatta and shaped it through his own body. The armcha...
Resin
Roberto Matta Alidor resin armchair, limited edition, Italy, 1974
By Roberto Matta
Located in Ozzano Dell'emilia, IT
Between art and design, the Alidor armchair by Surrealist artist Roberto Matta has a resin structure and a biomorphic cushion. Limited edition 25/1000 with engraved number and artis...
Resin
Roberto Matta Sacco Alato Aluminium Armchair Paradisoterrestre limited Edition
By Roberto Matta, Paradisoterrestre
Located in Ozzano Dell'emilia, IT
Designed in 1971 - Paradisoterrestre Edition 2019 This “functional work of art” represents in an exemplary way the concept of Ultramobile, operation conceived by Dino Gavina in 1971...
Aluminum
Novello Finotti Fausto, Ultramobile bronze stool/sculpture, Paradisoterrestre
By Novello Finotti, Paradisoterrestre
Located in Ozzano Dell'emilia, IT
Designed in 1972 - Paradisoterrestre edition 2018. Materials: polished cast bronze, sheepskin fur In Novello Finotti’s fantastic world one has the insinuation of a throb of reality...
Bronze
Contemporary Bronze Sculptural Armchair Made in Italy by Hessentia
By HESSENTIA, Cornelio Cappellini
Located in Carate, Brianza (MB)
“Iconique” is the name and maybe the most appropriate adjective to describe this metal armchair, which looks like a real timeless artwork. It is completely made of bronze, but despit...
Bronze
Contemporary Bronze Sculptural Cadrega Chair Made in Italy by Hessentia
By HESSENTIA, Cornelio Cappellini
Located in Carate, Brianza (MB)
Cadrega is a tribute to the city of Milan. Cadrega is the expression of a minimalist design, entirely made of cast bronze. Its surface is characterised by a polychrome effect given b...
Bronze
Contemporary Bronze Sculptural Cadrega Chair Made in Italy by Hessentia
By Cornelio Cappellini, HESSENTIA
Located in Carate, Brianza (MB)
Cadrega is a tribute to the city of Milan. Cadrega is the expression of a minimalist design, entirely made of cast bronze. Its surface is characterised by a polychrome effect given b...
Bronze
Palma Chair in Bronze by Agnes Studio / Estefanía de Ros
By Agnes Studio
Located in Guatemala, GT
The Palma chair / Silla Palma Casted from Latania lontaroides Palm leaves, dried and carefuly formed to create the quasi-im- mposible mold that gives birth to this piece. The Palm...
Bronze
Franck Evennou, Phoenix, Contemporary Bronze Side Chair, France, 2020
By Franck Evennou
Located in New York, NY
Franck Evennou has a poetic language inspired by nature, and by all subjects that carry the residue of their pasts. His works, particularly in bronze, possess a powerful nostalgic qu...
Bronze
Franck Evennou, Phoenix, Contemporary Bronze Side Chair, France, 2020
By Franck Evennou
Located in New York, NY
Franck Evennou has a poetic language inspired by nature, and by all subjects that carry the residue of their pasts. His works, particularly in bronze, possess a powerful nostalgic qu...
Bronze
