Roberto Matta

This threatening composition is dominated by what appear to be the parts of a machine and a human skeleton. Contoured with thick black lines and imposed on a predominantly red background, the form projects sensations of both imprisonment and destruction.

The artist, often known simply as Matta, was born in Santiago, Chile, where he trained as an architect. While working in Paris in the 1930s, he was introduced to the Surrealist movement, and turned his attention to drawing and painting subjects that emerged from the depths of the imagtination. According to the artist, the dark imagery in works such as The Remainer was provoked by reflections on the horrors of World War II.