“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 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 Sacco Alato 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 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 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 Margarita Bronze 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 with the aim of adapting in a surprising way the surrealist object to daily use. Margarita was cast in bronze the first time to fix an idea: it is a petrol can, opened up like a daisy, a barrel turned into a tribal throne. Almost 50 years after the first prototypes and the very few works produced by Simon International, the re-edition of Margarita in the historical bronze...
Bronze
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
Augusto Betti Noodle Armchair, Dedar or Pierre Frey fabric, Paradisoterrestre
By Paradisoterrestre, Augusto Betti
Located in Ozzano Dell'emilia, IT
Designed in 1967 - Paradisoterrestre Edition 2022 Materials: shaped polyurethane, metal and wood; upholstery available in different fabric and colours. The balanced gesture of the ...
Wood
Sit Down armchair designed by Gaetano Pesce for Cassina 1975
By Gaetano Pesce
Located in Arezzo, Italy
Sit Down armchair designed by Gaetano Pesce for Cassina in 1975. Steel frame, molded plywood, cold-injected polyurethane, quilted polyester wadding fabric. Good condition, chair has ...
Steel
Armchair " Alky " by Giancarlo Piretti for Castelli, Italy 1970s
By Giancarlo Piretti
Located in Brussels, BE
Armchair " Alky " by Giancarlo Piretti for Castelli, Italy 1970s - New Upholstery
Fabric
Italian modern armchair and ottoman Hal by Marc Sadler for Cassina, 1990s
By Cassina, Marc Sadler
Located in MIlano, IT
Italian modern armchair and ottoman Hal by Marc Sadler for Cassina, 1990s Armchair and ottoman model Hal are both padded and upholstered in red fabric. The softly contoured foam fram...
Leather, Fabric, Foam
Iconic Armchair by Mario Bellini for Cassina, c.1970s
By Mario Bellini
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This iconic chair designed by Mario Bellini for Cassina c.1970s, Italy, features the original deep red saddle leather which is wrapped atop a steel frame. The back legs feature a bla...
Steel
Italian Postmodern Modernist "Jocauro" Armchair, Arrben in Leather, Italy, 1990s
By Arrben
Located in Deland, FL
Introducing a rare Italian postmodern 'Jocauro' armchair produced by the lauded luxury furniture makers of Arrben. The "Jocauro" chair features a contoured leather seat and back that...
Chrome
Big-E, Armchair by Ron Arad for Moroso, Italy, 1990s
By Ron Arad
Located in Greding, DE
Large red armchair out of plastic. Signed on the back “Big-E by Ron Arad for MOROSO”.
Plastic
