Art: Mysteries of the Morning

Among the best living arguments for abstractionism is a 40-year-old Chilean named Roberto Sebastian Antonio Matta Echaurren, who calls himself simply "Matta." He lives with his wife and baby boy in a sunny apartment in Rome, paints only when he feels like it, and spends most of his leisure time grinding a rented hand organ on the streets. The mechanical music he grinds out gives Matta and his small boy assistant little profit, but Matta enjoys watching the faces of his listeners at the sidewalk cafes. Matta's latest show, opening next week in Manhattan, will be the first chance the U.S....

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