André Masson (1896-1987) french painter, sculptor, illustrator, designer and writer, was born at Balagny (Oise). He spent most of his youth in Brussels, where he worked as a pattern-drawer in an embroidery studio and studied part-time at the Académie des Beaux-Arts. Then moved to Paris and studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts 1912-14. He served in the French Army 1914-19, and was gravely wounded. He lived in the South of France (1919-22), then returned to Paris where he met Gris, Derain, and later Miró and Breton. His first one-man exhibition was at the Galerie Simon, Paris in 1923. Paintings of forests, card players and still lifes, followed by experiments with automatic drawing. From 1924-9 he participated in the Surrealist movement. He made further works exploring chance effects, including sand paintings, as well as paintings of metamorphoses of animal and human forms, themes of germination, combats and massacres, with emphasis on violence and eroticism. He lived in Spain 1934-36 where he made paintings of bullfights, Spanish myths, etc. He took refuge in the USA between 1941-45, where he lived at New Preston, Connecticut, and made works inspired by the elemental forces of nature. He returned to France in 1945 and settled in Aix-en-Provence in 1947. Here he painted landscape themes such as mountains and waterfalls for several years, followed by some almost completely abstract pieces. His works also include sets and costumes for the theatre, book illustrations and a number of small sculptures.
This is part 6 of 15-part series on the works of André Masson:
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| 1953 Woman in a chair or Woman taking off her shirt bronze 64.2 x 56.7 x 26 cm |
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| c1954 Fish charcoal on paper 44 x 48.5 cm |
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| 1954 The Cockerel ink on paper 49.7 x 65 cm |
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| 1954 The Apparition colour lithograph on paper 50.1 x 38.1 cm |
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| 1954 Nude ink on paper 26.5 x 21 cm |
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| 1954 An Undine aquatint on paper 19.8 x 24.3 cm (plate) |
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| 1955 Cosmic Bird etching and aquatint 32.8 x 42.5 cm |
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| 1955 Composition sand on paper 50 x 65 cm |
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| 1955 Chinese Actors gouache and pastels on paper 62 x 45.5 cm |
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| 1955 Bones and Chrysalids lithograph 56.4 x 37.6 cm (composition) |
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| 1955 Along the Water's Edge tempera, ink and feathers on paper laid down on canvas 30.9 x 49.5 cm |
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| 1955 Mimes gouache and spray paint on brown paper 29.5 x 21.1 cm |
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| 1955 Metamorphosis colour lithograph on paper c43.5 x 55.5 cm |
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| 1955 Kabuki no. 13 gouache on paper 31 x 25 cm |
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| 1955 Figures gouache on paper 32.3 x 30.4 cm |
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| 1955 Cosmic Germination pastel and collage on paper 63 x 48.8 cm |
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| 1955 Star Bodies colour lithograph on paper 38.7 x 45.7 cm |
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| 1955 Scorpionfish oil on canvas 80 x 95 cm |
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| 1955 Riding sand on paper 50 x 65 cm |
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| 1955 Pursuit coloured etching on paper 43.8 x 58.9 cm |
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| 1955 Phoenix colour lithograph on cream wove paper 50.1 x 66 cm |
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| 1955 Nocturne in Blue and Purple gouache, watercolour and ink on paper 25.3 x 32.6 cm |
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| 1955 Vegetable etching and aquatint on paper 42.8 x 52.6 cm |
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| 1955 Untitled gouache on cardboard laid down on canvas 33 x 27 cm |
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| 1955 Underground Metamorphosis gouache and sand on paper 44.5 x 50.5 cm |
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| 1955 The Source of the Loue oil on board 54 x 64 cm |
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| 1955 The light on the Torrent oil on canvas 55 x 46 cm |
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| 1955 Star, Winged Being, Fish oil, sand and glue on canvas 55.1 x 38 cm Tate Gallery, London |
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| 1955, published 1956 Les Hain-Teny etching and aquatint 43 x 33.3 cm (composition) Tate Gallery, London |
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| c1955-58 Composition oil on canvas 60 x 50 cm |
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| c1955 Rue Saint Denis gouache on paper 32 x 50 cm |
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| 1956 Blue Mountain colour lithograph c43 x 57 cm |
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| 1956 Birth of a Cicada ink on paper 50 x 64 cm |
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| 1956 Bird Ghosts gouache on paper 33 x 40 cm |
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| 1956 Beyond the Concern oil on canvas 33 x 41.3 cm |
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| 1956 Attacked by Birds oil and sand on canvas 75 x 90.1 cm MoMA, New York |
1956 Un Poème dans chaque livre by Paul Éluard (A Poem for each book by Paul Éluard)
An illustrated book with seven etchings (three with aquatint, one
with aquatint, drypoint, engraving, and roulette), three drypoints (one with engraving), two aquatints, two woodcuts, one engraving, and one lithograph.
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| 1956 A Poem in Every Book by Paul Éluard aquatint 18.9 x 17.9 cm (page) |
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| 1956 Reclining Nude lithograph 50.4 x 65 cm (sheet) |
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| 1956 Pool at the Villa d'Este lithograph 38.3 x 27.9 cm (composition) |
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| 1956 On the Street watercolour on paper applied to canvas 44 x 28 cm |
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| 1956 Mist in the Valley of the Arc lithograph 42 x 53.5 cm (composition) |
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| 1956 In the wind I oil and sand on canvas 92.5 x 73 cm |
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| 1956 Green Nude lithograph 28.4 x 19.5 cm (composition) |
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| 1956 Flowers ravaged by Insects oil on canvas 59.8 x 50.2 cm |
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| 1956 Capture colour lithograph on paper 60 x 46 cm |
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| 1956 Boats in Venice lithograph 37.5 x 50.2 cm (composition) |
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| 1956 Blue Vase lithograph 36.8 x 29.3 cm (composition) |
