La Source de Calm 2002

Roberto Matta made this painting, La Source de Calm, with crayon or pastel. The blue is applied roughly, like a child might do. Then come the figures - weird and spindly, like characters in a dream. I can imagine Matta working on this, rubbing the crayon into the paper, almost like he’s feeling his way through the composition. What I love is the red line at the bottom—it’s so bold, like a horizon line in an alien landscape. The arrow, the yellow dots, and the way the figures interact—it’s all so playful and strange. You can tell that Matta was having fun with the materials, letting his imagination run wild. This reminds me of some of Miro’s work, but with a harder edge. Matta’s not afraid to be a little bit ugly, a little bit awkward. And in that awkwardness, there’s a kind of truth. It's like he’s inviting us to embrace the messy, uncertain parts of life, and to find beauty in the unexpected.