Je m'arche

In 1943, Matta started painting large-scale triptychs (a three-panel format). Je m'arche has been identified as the left panel of a triptych from 1948–1949 that was later split apart. The center panel, now in a private collection, is titledLa violence de la douceur and the right panel is titled Je m'honte (in the Menil Collection, Houston, Texas). Matta shared with his fellow Surrealists a passion for wordplay. The titles of these three works exploit the differences between how the words sound in French and how they look in written form, conveying multiple or unclear meanings. In the title of the Smart Museum's painting, 'arche' can mean an architectural element shaped like an arc and connotes archery, perhaps referencing a shape in the painting. Because of the apostrophe, Je m'arche implies a nonsensical reflexive, "I arch myself," but in spoken form means "I walk" (Je marche). The confusion invites the viewer to contemplate the ambiguities inherent in the painting.