Original carborundum and etching with hand coloring in pastel and gouache on handmade paper. Hand signed by the artist "Matta" in ink, lower right. Numbered "91/125" in ink, lower left. An impression from the edition of 125 aside from 35 artist proofs. Published by Nordstamp. In excellent condition, framed with museum quality conservation materials.

Sheet size: 43 3/4" x 34 1/2"; framed size: 52 1/2" x 44"

Roberto Sebastian Antonio Matta Echaurren (1911-2002) was born in Santiago, Chile where he studied architecture at The Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile. In 1933 he moved to Paris and worked in the studio of Le Corbusier. Originally an architectural draftsman, Matta only produced drawings until the summer of 1938 when he met Gordon Onslow Ford, an influential American patron who encouraged him to begin painting. Matta officially joined the Paris Surrealist movement in 1937 but was later exiled from the group in 1947. When World War II broke out in 1939, Matta departed for New York where he went on to influence a new generation of American artists.

Matta was well known for using the Surrealist technique of "automatism": the suppression of consciousness in order to give free reign to the unconscious and free associations. Automatism allowed one form to give rise to another until unification was achieved or until further elaboration destroyed the composition.