Gordon Matta-Clark

(American, 1943–1978)

Gordon Matta-Clark was an American artist and architect known for his large-scale projects. Dealing with themes of metamorphosis and resistance towards the commodification of art, Matta-Clark produced interventions in architectural structures he called “anarchitecture.” The most famous of these was Splitting (1974), an intervention in which the artist sawed out a gaping vertical segment from the middle of a wood-frame house in suburban New Jersey. “By undoing a building [I] open a state of enclosure which has been preconditioned not only by physical necessity but by the industry that proliferates suburban and urban boxes as a pretext for ensuring a passive, isolated consumer,” he once explained. Born on June 22, 1943 in New York, NY, his father was the artist Roberto Matta and his godmother was Marcel Duchamp’s wife Teeny Duchamp. He went on to study architecture at Cornell University from 1963 to 1968, where he met Robert Smithson who along with Dennis Oppenheim influenced his interest in using non-art materials. Moving back to New York, Matta-Clark experimented with both food and photography as well as documenting the burgeoning graffiti-scene and the sewers and subways of the city. The artist tragically died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 35 on August 27, 1978 in New York, NY. Today, his works are held in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, and the Reina Sofia National Museum in Madrid, among others.

Gordon Matta-Clark Artworks

Gordon Matta-Clark (126 results)
Jacob's Ladder, 1977

Gordon Matta-Clark

Jacob's Ladder, 1977

Sale Date: June 9, 2010

Auction Closed

Untitled, Stack of cut paper, 1974

Gordon Matta-Clark

Untitled, Stack of cut paper, 1974

Sale Date: November 12, 2009

Auction Closed

Untitled-Stack of cut paper, 1974

Gordon Matta-Clark

Untitled-Stack of cut paper, 1974

Sale Date: September 24, 2009

Auction Closed

Walls paper (bk w/30 works, folio)

Gordon Matta-Clark

Walls paper (bk w/30 works, folio)

Sale Date: May 19, 2009

Auction Closed

Splitting, 1975

Gordon Matta-Clark

Splitting, 1975

Sale Date: May 15, 2009

Auction Closed

Untitled # 0168, 1973–1974

Gordon Matta-Clark

Untitled # 0168, 1973–1974

Sale Date: April 29, 2009

Auction Closed

Ohne Titel, 1970–1979

Gordon Matta-Clark

Ohne Titel, 1970–1979

Sale Date: December 5, 2008

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1974

Gordon Matta-Clark

Untitled, 1974

Sale Date: November 18, 2008

Auction Closed

Day's end-Pier 52, 1975

Gordon Matta-Clark

Day's end-Pier 52, 1975

Sale Date: November 12, 2008

Auction Closed

Office baroque, 1977

Gordon Matta-Clark

Office baroque, 1977

Sale Date: October 20, 2008

Auction Closed

Office Baroque, 1977

Gordon Matta-Clark

Office Baroque, 1977

Sale Date: June 29, 2008

Auction Closed

Four corner, 1975

Gordon Matta-Clark

Four corner, 1975

Sale Date: July 2, 2008

Auction Closed

Untitled - Energy rooms, notebook, 1974

Gordon Matta-Clark

Untitled - Energy rooms, notebook, 1974

Sale Date: May 16, 2008

Auction Closed

Jacob's ladder, 1977

Gordon Matta-Clark

Jacob's ladder, 1977

Sale Date: May 14, 2008

Auction Closed

Sous-sol de Paris, 1999

Gordon Matta-Clark

Sous-sol de Paris, 1999

Sale Date: March 15, 2008

Auction Closed

Wallpapers, Splittin & Circus: The..., 1973–1978

Gordon Matta-Clark

Wallpapers, Splittin & Circus: The..., 1973–1978

Sale Date: February 10, 2008

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1975

Gordon Matta-Clark

Untitled, 1975

Sale Date: January 14, 2008

Auction Closed

Wall paper, 1972

Gordon Matta-Clark

Wall paper, 1972

Sale Date: January 15, 2008

Auction Closed

Untitled - Tree forms (set of 6), 1979

Gordon Matta-Clark

Untitled - Tree forms (set of 6), 1979

Sale Date: November 14, 2007

Auction Closed

Office Baroque series (Montage of two photo..., 1977

Gordon Matta-Clark

Office Baroque series (Montage of two photo..., 1977

Sale Date: September 12, 2007

Auction Closed

World Trade Center, 1974

Gordon Matta-Clark

World Trade Center, 1974

Sale Date: June 2, 2007

Auction Closed

Day's end, 1975

Gordon Matta-Clark

Day's end, 1975

Sale Date: May 17, 2007

Auction Closed

Bingo, 1974

Gordon Matta-Clark

Bingo, 1974

Sale Date: May 17, 2007

Auction Closed

Office Baroque, 1977

Gordon Matta-Clark

Office Baroque, 1977

Sale Date: May 16, 2007

Auction Closed