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Artist/Maker
Roberto Matta (Echaurren)
(Chilean, 1911 - 2002)
Date1969
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsComposition: 25 3/4 × 21 3/4 in. (65.4 × 55.2 cm)
Frame: 36 1/2 × 32 1/4 × 3 5/8 in. (92.7 × 81.9 × 9.2 cm)
Credit LineGift of Peter B. Fischer, M.D., Class of 1963
Object number1983.97
Not on view
DescriptionThis painting is dedicated to Batan (John Sebastian Matta-Clark), Roberto Matta's son. Batan and his twin brother, Gordon Matta-Clark, were born on June 22, 1943, in New York City. Their father and mother, Anne Clark, divorced in 1945 and the twins subsequently lived with their mother. Both grew up to be active artists, although Batan's work is less known than his brother's. Batan suffered throughout his life from mental illness and fell to his death in 1976. This painting, made in 1969 when Batan was 25, is typical of Matta's late style, which throughout the 1960s and 1970s drew on science fiction and erotica to create vibrantly colored dream-like compositions of amorphous "figures" in hazy, indeterminate spaces. This painting's frame is original to the artwork and constructed as one piece.
Additional Details
Alternate Titles
Untitled
Exhibition History
2005
Clinton, NY (Fred L. Emerson Gallery, Hamilton College). "Hamilton Collects, A Century of Curiosities: The Story of the Hamilton College Collection," September 29 - December 30, 2005 (unnumbered cat.);
1992
Clinton, NY (Fred L. Emerson Gallery, Hamilton College). "Highlights from the Hamilton College Collection," June 5 - September 6, 1992 (cat. no 59);
1984
Clinton, NY (Fred L. Emerson Gallery, Hamilton College). "New Acquistions - The Hamilton College Collection," January 7 - February 12, 1984.
Clinton, NY (Fred L. Emerson Gallery, Hamilton College). "Hamilton Collects, A Century of Curiosities: The Story of the Hamilton College Collection," September 29 - December 30, 2005 (unnumbered cat.);
1992
Clinton, NY (Fred L. Emerson Gallery, Hamilton College). "Highlights from the Hamilton College Collection," June 5 - September 6, 1992 (cat. no 59);
1984
Clinton, NY (Fred L. Emerson Gallery, Hamilton College). "New Acquistions - The Hamilton College Collection," January 7 - February 12, 1984.
Provenance
1983: Hamilton College (Fred L. Emerson Gallery), by gift of Peter B. Fischer.
Published References
A CENTURY OF CURIOSITIES, THE STORY OF THE HAMILTON COLLEGE COLLECTION (exh. cat., Clinton, NY, Emerson Gallery, Hamilton College, September 29-December 30, 2005, Unnumbered cat.).
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE HAMILTON COLLEGE COLLECTION (exh. cat., Emerson Gallery, Hamilton College, June 5- September 6, 1992, cat. no. 59).
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE HAMILTON COLLEGE COLLECTION (exh. cat., Emerson Gallery, Hamilton College, June 5- September 6, 1992, cat. no. 59).
Signature
Signed "Matta" at lower right in oil paint.
Inscribed
"To Batan" at lower right in oil paint.
Marla Sweeney
Date: 2003
Medium: Archival inkjet print
Object number: 2020.8.22
Cecil Beaton
Date: 1944; published 1945
Medium: Gelatin silver print
Object number: 1982.15
Marsden Hartley
Date: c. 1933-34
Medium: Oil on cardboard
Object number: 1986.18
William C. Palmer
Date: 1938
Medium: Ink and graphite on paper
Object number: WCP.XXX.38
William C. Palmer
Date: 1953
Medium: Crayon and graphite on paper
Object number: WCP.XXX.32
William C. Palmer
Date: 1925-26
Medium: Graphite, crayon, watercolor and ink on paper
Object number: WCP.XXX.23
William C. Palmer
Date: c. 1940
Medium: Ink, wash, and graphite on paper
Object number: WCP.XXX.15