Roberto Matta is a Chilean artist known for his unique style that blends European surrealism and American abstract expressionism. Born Roberto Sebastián Antonio Matta Echaurran on 11 November 1911 in Santiago, Chile, he graduated with a degree in architecture from the Catholic University of Santiago in 1932 and then moved to Paris to work in Le Corbusier's studio.

While travelling in Madrid, he met the surrealist Salvador Dalí, who encouraged him to show his drawings to André Breton. His fantastical illustrations explore the unconscious through methods of fluid perspective and rich colours. ‘Only the unknown interests me, and I work for my own amazement,’ he said. Matta moved to New York in 1938, turned to oil painting, and became friends with Robert Motherwell while maintaining ties with Yves Tanguy.

He died on 23 November 2002 in Civitavecchia, Italy, at the age of 91.