A foggy, dreamlike, mysticism pervades Matta's canvases. The remnants of figuration linger, like shadows, on the periphery of the waking mind. Chance, cosmos, and internal strife are themes the artist has explored throughout his career.

Roberto Antonio Sebastian Matta Echaurren was born in Santiago, Chile in 1911, and spent his early years attending school for architecture and design in his native country. In 1933 he traveled to France as a merchant marine. He remained in Paris for two years, studying under the tutelage of famed architect, Le Corbusier. During his time in Europe, Matta traveled to Spain where he was introduced to such artistic figures as Federico Lorca, Pablo Neruda, Salvador Dali and the founder of the Surrealist movement, Andre Breton. In 1937 Breton invited Matta to join the Surrealists. The next year Matta abandoned his architectural pursuits in favor of drawing and painting. However, his architectural training was not forgotten and throughout his career the artist approached his work with a precisely trained eye.

In 1939, with World War II approaching, Matta left Europe and settled in New York City. His work quickly influenced many artists including Arshile Gorky and Jackson Pollock. Matta proved to be a crucial link between the European Surrealist and the American Abstract Expressionist movements.

As Matta's work progressed, he returned to figuration - perhaps, in an effort to return to his Latin American roots and because of his strong interest in the primitive forms of Pre-Columbian sculpture. His eerie creations dancing through nebulous space haunt the viewer and defy notions of both typical abstract and surrealist works. Les Jeux aux Pieds is a wonderful example of Matta's use of translucent color and ghostly shapes set in an organic formation. While no visual cues exist to indicate three-dimensionality, Matta has created a tangible, lively, rhythmic space within the confines of this canvas.

In 1948, after a series of events, including the suicide of Arshile Gorky and Matta's dismissal from the Surrealists, Matta returned to Europe. The American art market was enamored with abstract expressionism, and left little room for Matta's exploration of the figure. Matta traveled and taught in Europe throughout the 1960s. Although he made a few brief trips to Chile in the sixties to support leftist political agendas, he never had a desire to claim his own heritage as a Latin American artist. Rather, he closely aligned himself with European art movements. Matta spent the remaining 30 years of his life in Paris, Italy and London.

Matta died peacefully, November 27, 2002 near the Tuscan village of Tarquinia. He was 91. He left behind a unique heritage. The Latin American roots, which he dismissed, imparted energy and humanity to his work. Matta wished to escape the identity and passionate politics of his native country, but ultimately these forces enabled him to create a landscape of the cosmos within: all the fire, failure and regeneration held in human experience.

The monumental impact of Matta's landscape of the psyche has given rise to retrospectives at many prestigious institutions including, Mew York's Museum of Modern Art, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Hirschhorn Museum and Sculpture Gallery in Washington DC, and the Museo de Arte Reina Sofia in Madrid. The art market has responded to the increased academic interest in this artist. 2005 was a record-breaking year for Matta's oil paintings where estimates were surpassed at major auction houses in the United States and Europe. Recognition of and demand for Matta's original paintings continues to grow.