American, 1913-2001

Untitled is a beautiful example of the iconic work of Mercedes Matter. This piece combines Matter's explosive and jagged forms with a softer color pallet, creating a gorgeous abstraction that upon closer inspection reveals the forms within. Matter tended to work from a still life composition, abstracting her forms until they are nearly unrecognizable. This work combines Matter's masterful use of negative space and exposed brushwork with her decisive lines to create a truly powerful work.

Mercedes Matter was born in 1913 in New York, New York. Daughter of modernist painter Arthur Beecher Carles and model Mercedes de Cordoba, Matter began painting at age 6 alongside her father, who himself had studied with Henri Matisse. Matter grew up in Philadelphia, New York, and Europe, living in Italy for over 2 years beginning when she was 12. This time was formative for her education in art history, which she followed up with lessons in sculpture and painting in New York with such notable teachers as Lu Duble, Alexander Archipenko and Hans Hofmann, with whom she would build a strong friendship.

In the late 1930s, Matter was an original member of the American Abstract Artists, and worked closely with Fernand Leger, who later introduced her to her future husband, Herbert Matter. Matter would go on to form close relationships with the important artists of the mid-century New York art scene such as Jackson Pollock, Lee Krasner, Alexander Calder and Willem de Kooning.

Matter went on to teach at the Philadelphia College of Art (now University of the Arts), Pratt Institute, and New York University. In 1964, she founded the New York Studio School of Drawing, Panting, and Sculpture.

Mercedes Matter continued to teach and make art until she passed away in 2001 at the age of 87. In addition to her teaching and her work, she wrote articles on artists, including Hofmann, Kline and Giacometti. One-person exhibitions include Yale Norfolk, CT; Washington Art Association, CT; East Hampton Center for Contemporary Art, NY; and The New York Studio School. Collections include the Delaware Museum of Art; Parrish Museum; and Whitney Museum of American Art, NY. Awards include the Distinguished Teaching Award, College Art Association; the Gottlieb Foundation Grant; Ingram Merril Grant; and Tiffany Foundation Grant.

EDUCATION:
Bennett College in Millbrook, NY

TEACHING EXPERIENCE:
Philadelphia College of Art (now University of the Arts
Pratt Institute
New York University

CRITIQUE EXPERIENCE:
Antioch
Brandeis
Cincinnati School of Art
Kansas City Art Institute
Maryland Institute College of Art
Yale University
Skowhegan
American University

MEMBERSHIPS:
American Abstract Artists