In 1957, UNESCO's 鈥淐ommittee on Architecture and Works of Art鈥� organized a competition for the decoration of the Organization's permanent headquarters in Paris; only eleven artists were selected, among which Roberto Matta. The Committee members included the building architects, Bernard Zehrfuss, Marcel Breuer, Luigi Nervi, and C. Para-Perez who presided the Committee of Art Advisors which included Georges Salles, Shahid Subrawardy and Herbert Read, selected to guide the choice of works

Alongwith paintings by Afro Basaldella and Karel Appel, Matta鈥檚 鈥淭he Widest Opening on the Cosmos鈥� was chosen for the decoration of the 7th floor of the newly constructed Fontenoy building. This large painting, with its specific and original architectural space, reveals a 鈥渦topic spirit鈥� which favors, according to the artist, 鈥淭he Widest Opening on the Cosmos鈥�. Surrealism, of which he claimed himself to be, was to him 鈥渢he only discipline allowing constant transformation鈥�. Desire and Eros are the lines of force in his cybernetic compositions, where insects, larvae, totems and strange machines create a perfectly controlled monumental delirium His works constitute a revolutionary saga which follow the struggle, throughout the world, against imperialism and the breach of human liberty.

Artist Biography

Roberto Matta Echaurren was born on 11 November 1911 in Chilo茅 (Chile) to Hispanic-Franco-Basque parents. He began Architecture studies in 1929 at the Catholic University of Santiago, which he soon stopped in order to settle in Europe as of 1931, first travelling to Italy, Spain and later Russia and the United Kingdom, where he met Ren茅 Magritte. Although a disciple of the architect Le Corbusier, he opposed himself to his rationalism in the magazine 鈥淢inotaur鈥�. He decided to settle down in Paris in 1934, where, through Federico Garcia Lorca, he met Salvador Dal铆, Andr茅 Breton, Yves Tanguy and Pablo Picasso. As of 1937 he dedicated himself to painting, creating his first oils on canvas the following year. He participated in the International Exhibition on Surrealism in Paris, in 1938, alongside Magritte, Mir贸 and Picasso in the Spanish pavilion. An important retrospective exhibition, which he did not attend, was held in Santiago (Chile) in 2000 and included 162 of his works 鈥� oils, drwings, pastels, sculptures, ceramics 鈥� carried out between 1930 and 2000. Considered the 鈥渓ast of the Surrealists鈥� and one of the last great painters of the 20th century, Matta saw himself as a 鈥渃itizen of the world鈥�. Matta passed away in 2002, in Civitavecchia (Italy).