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 2 of 15-part series on the works of André Masson:
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| 1934 Montserrat graphite and chalk on paper 46.8 x 63.3 cm Tate Gallery, London |
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| 1934 1934 Massacre in the Sun oil on canvas 41.6 x 57.1 cm |
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| 1934 Insect, Spain watercolour and China ink on paper 28.8 x 30.5 cm |
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| 1934 Insect Engagement oil on canvas 31 x 53.5 cm |
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| 1935 Massacre pastel on off-white laid paper 48.2 x 63.5 cm |
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| 1935 Little Don Quixote oil on canvas 21.8 x 27 cm |
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| 1935 Insect Games watercolour and graphite on paper (size not given) |
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| 1935 Ibdès in Aragon oil on canvas 60 x 92.4 cm Tate Gallery, London |
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| 1935 Don Quixote and the Enchanters oil on canvas 98 x 126 cm |
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| 1935 Dawn in Montserrat oil on canvas 50 x 65 cm |
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| 1935 Toledo China ink on card 24 x 32 cm |
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| 1935 The Rooster and the Grasshopper oil on canvas 40 x 62.2 cm |
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| 1935 The Landscape of Wonders oil on canvas 76.5 x 65.4 cm Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York |
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| 1935 The Ephemeral oil on canvas 81.3 x 54.3 cm |
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| 1935 Pupae to Toledo mixed media (size not given) |
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| c1935 Insect Games graphite and watercolour on paper 31.5 x 46.5 cm |
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| 1936 The Matador Insects oil on canvas 89 x 116 cm |
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| 1936 Disemboweled Horses oil on canvas 22 x 27 cm |
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| 1936 Corrida (Corrida imaginaire) oil on canvas 85 x 90 cm |
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| 1937 Thrust ink on paper 50 x 66 cm |
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| 1937 The Menhir oil on canvas 46 x 55.3 cm |
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| 1937 The Last Image ink on paper 50.8 x 63.5 cm |
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| 1937 The Bad Bull oil on canvas 38.4 x 61.7 cm |
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| 1937 Chicken-like Bacchanalia ink and watercolour on paper 21 x 31.5 cm |
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| 1938 The Metamorphosis of the Lovers oil on canvas 40.8 x 46 cm |
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| 1938 The Labyrinth oil on canvas 120 x 61 cm |
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| 1938 Moon lithograph 35.5 x 26.5 cm |
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| 1938 Melancholy of the Minotaur pen and India ink on paper 50.5 x 65.8 cm |
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| 1938 Erotic Transmutation oil on canvas 100.3 x 50.4 cm |
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| 1938 Ecstasy (conceived) cast1987 National Gallery of Victoria, Australia |
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| 1939 The Paralytic Woman oil on canvas 114.7 x 146.1 cm |
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| 1939 Portrait of the poet Heinrich von Kleist oil on canvas 55 x 38 cm Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz, Germany |
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| 1939 Montserrat graphite and chalk on paper 46.8 x 63.3 cm Tate Gallery, London |
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| 1939 Minotaur (cover design) gouache on paper 32 x 58 cm |
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| 1939 Love Duet bronze 55 x 84.6 x 32.3 cm |
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| 1939 Gradiva oil on canvas 97 x 130 cm |
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| 1939-41 Hotel of Automata oil on canvas 71 x 92 cm |
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| 1940 Auvergne Peasant China ink and watercolour on cartridge paper 65 x 50 cm |
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| 1940 Myself drawing Dante ink on paper 62.7 x 47.8 cm MoMA, New York |
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| 1940 Gérard de Nerval ink on paper 52.5 x 36.8 cm MoMA, New York |
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| 1940 Brocéliande pen and India ink on paper 35 x 24.6 cm |
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| 1940 The Prince watercolour and ink on paper laid down on canvas 62.7 x 47.7 cm |
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| 1940 The Citadel watercolour on paper 47.1 x 45.9 cm |
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| c1940 Hilly Landscape charcoal on paper 48 x 57 cm |
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| 1940-41 The Couple oil on canvas 87.3 x 37.2 cm |
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| 1940-41 Portrait of a woman (probably Sylvia Bataille) watercolour and Indian ink wash on paper 28.9 x 23.6 cm |
