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 4 of 15-part series on the works of André Masson:
1945 Resurrection
lithograph 19 x.5 x 15.5 cm (composition)1945 Portrait with a May-Fly
drypoint on paper 24.8 x 20.5 cm (plate)1945 Portrait of Georges Duthuit
lithograph 35.6 x 27.9 cm1945 Pasiphaë
pastel on black paper 69.8 x 96.8 cm
MoMA, New York1945 Meditation
lithograph on paper 20 x 28 cm
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| 1945 The Misanthrope (Self-Portrait) etching with aquatint 22.2 x 17.8 cm Published by Curt Valentin Buchholz Gallery, New York |
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| 1945 The Sword in the Sea India ink on paper 30 x 27.5 cm |
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| 1945 Ruin lithograph on paper 35.5 x 56 cm |
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| c1945 Untitled pastels and ink on canvas paper 44 x 56 cm |
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| 1945 Apparition lithograph on thin wove paper 35.5 x 27.9 cm |
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| 1946 Portrait of Curt Valentin lithograph 30.5 x 28.9 cm (composition) Published by Galerie Louise Leiris, Paris |
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| 1946 Portrait of a Child in the Artist's Studio pastel on paper mounted on canvas 23.5 x 21 cm |
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| 1946 La Rochelle, Yellow, Red, Orange oil on canvas 82.6 x 95.9 cm |
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| 1946 Deucalion oil on paper 19.7 x 14.7 cm |
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| 1946 Characters china ink on paper 24 x 16 cm |
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| 1946 At the Theatre etching and aquatint 24.8 x 32.2 cm (plate) Published by Galerie Louise Leiris, Paris |
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| 1946 The Cedars of the Sablonnière pastel on paper glued on canvas 46.9 x 50 cm |
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| 1946 Tangled Beings (medium not given) 66.5 x 50 cm |
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| 1946 Self-Portrait drypoint and aquatint on paper 41.9 x 24.7 cm |
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| published 1946 The Secret Weapon lithograph on paper 27.9 x 20.9 cm |
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| 1946 Portrait of Georges Limbour China ink and charcoal on paper 48 x 31.3 cm |
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| 1946 Portrait of Georges Limbour (medium not given) 32 x 48.5 cm |
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| 1946 The Tower and the Boats oil on canvas 101.3 x 83.6 cm |
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| 1946 The Secret Weapon lithograph on paper 27.9 x 20.9 cm |
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| 1946 The Port of La Rochelle oil on canvas 46 x 38 cm |
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| 1946c Satan the Fire charcoal on paper 31.4 x 22.5 cm |
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| c1946 Pursued Woman drypoint 27.9 x 17.8 cm (plate) |
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| c1946 Abduction drypoint 30.2 x 40 cm (plate) Published by Galerie Louise Leiris, Paris |
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| 1946-47 The Dinosaur oil on canvas c15.4 x 20.6 cm |
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| 1947 Sainte Victoire Landscape (Rocks and Forest) pastel on paper 62.7 x 48 cm |
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| 1947 Martiniquaise oil on canvas 41 x 33.5 cm |
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| 1947 Leda drypoint on wove paper 38.7 x 27.9 cm |
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| 1947 Le Couple colour lithograph 46.9 x 39.4 cm |
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| 1947 Hespéride lithograph 47.3 x 40.3 cm (composition) Published by Galerie Louise Leiris, Paris |
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| 1947 Grenade crayon on American tinted paper 48 x 63 cm |
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| 1947 The rocks at Belle Ile India ink and pastel on paper, laid on canvas 69 x 47 cm |
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| 1947 The Nurse of Birds pastel, brush and ink on paper 45.5 x 61 cm |
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| 1947 The Centaur Keychain oil on canvas 91.4 x 72.4 cm |
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| 1947 The Carp etching and aquatint on paper 19.6 x24.7 cm |
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| 1947 Sirens ink on paper 49 x 63.5 cm Tate Gallery, London |
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| c1947 Duo pastel paper 65 x 39.8 cm |
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| 1947 Turkeys oil on canvas 54 x 73 cm |
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| 1947 Three Characters in a Tunnel oil on canvas 39 x 51 cm |
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| 1947 The Schiarita coloured crayons on paper 62.5 x 47 cm |
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| 1948 Le Tholonet oil on canvas 92 x 73.5 cm |
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| 1948 Dawn colour lithograph on Arches wove paper 56 x 76 cm (sheet) |
