Les Roses sont belles 1951

Roberto Matta painted "Les Roses sont belles" using oil on canvas. The result is a ghostly vision of people caught in the machinery of power. Matta was classically trained, but he deliberately disrupted traditional techniques, in pursuit of a more direct expression of his subconscious. The oil paint is applied in thin washes, creating a sense of transparency and ethereality. He builds up layers of color and form, then scrapes away at the surface. This working and reworking of the material mirrors the way that power operates: an ongoing, messy, and often destructive process. It suggests the physical and psychological effort that goes into making and unmaking society. With its focus on process, this painting reminds us that artmaking isn't just about aesthetics; it's a way of thinking through the complex relationships between materials, labor, and social context. Matta challenges the idea of the artist as a detached genius. He instead places himself in the thick of things, grappling with the political realities of his time.