Roberto Matta
Roberto Matta’s arrival to Surrealism in 1938 may have been late, but it brought a seismic shift that unexpectedly expanded the movement’s scope. While many Surrealists had drifted from the early techniques of Automatism, Matta found in it a powerful tool—not simply a method for free-flowing creation but a means to visualize complex inner worlds he called “psychological morphologies.” His approach was radical; he sought to illustrate the invisible dimensions of thought, emotion, and transformation, merging them into what he termed “the graphic trace of transformation,” a depiction of energies that shape and reshape the very essence of a subject.
Matta’s work also resonated deeply with the scientific explorations of his time, particularly Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity. He was captivated by the idea that visual art could, like science, depict time, flux, and growth, moving beyond static representation to capture a kind of perpetual becoming. Each brushstroke and shape was a narrative for Matta, a journey through layers of time and space that echoed Einstein’s ideas on interconnectedness and transformation. In his work, time was not a linear progression but an integral aspect of his painted landscapes—a geodesic landscape in psychological terms, where energy radiated and absorbed, creating forms in continuous metamorphosis.
Black Virtue
André Breton, the founder of Surrealism, recognized something extraordinary in Matta’s vision. He referred to him as a “four-dimensional artist” capable of creating “landscapes with several horizons,” a testament to Matta’s uncanny ability to merge multiple perspectives into a single frame. Breton went as far as to suggest that Matta’s early works introduced a new and previously unseen range of colours, a quality he compared to the groundbreaking contributions of Henri Matisse. Breton saw in Matta a unique mastery of hues and tones that seemed to spring from an otherworldly palette. These colours spoke directly to the viewer’s psyche and challenged the boundaries of conventional perception.
What Matta ultimately offered to Surrealism was unprecedented depth—a surreal topography of the mind that allowed viewers to see and feel the dimensions of their inner landscapes. His work beckons viewers to lose themselves in vast, multi-dimensional scenes where horizons shift, and layers of consciousness unfold. Through Matta’s “psychological morphologies,” he opened the door to a surrealism of movement, of perpetual transformation, inviting us all to explore the terrain of our inner worlds with curiosity and wonder.
