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 1 of 15-part series on the works of André Masson:
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| 1922-23 Dominos and Snuffbox oil on canvas 27 x 40 cm |
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| 1923 Fish oil on canvas 61 x 50 cm |
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| 1923 Fish oil on canvas 38 x 55 cm |
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| 1923 Card Trick oil on canvas 73 x 50.2 cm |
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| 1923 Carafe and Fish oil on canvas 40.4 x 33.3 cm |
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| 1924 The Rope oil on canvas 45.1 x 38.2 cm National Galleries of Scotland, UK |
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| 1924 Man in a Tower oil on canvas 95 x 60.8 cm Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York |
1924 Automatic Drawing
Masson began automatic drawings with no preconceived subject or composition in mind. Like a medium channeling a spirit, he let his pen travel rapidly across the paper without conscious control. He soon found hints of images—fragmented bodies and objects—emerging from the abstract, lace-like web of pen marks. At times Masson elaborated on these with conscious changes or additions, but he left the traces of the rapidly drawn ink mostly intact.
MoMA, New York
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| 1924 Automatic Drawing ink on paper 23 x 20.6 cm MoMA, New York |
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| 1924-25 Postcards oil on card 33.2 x 46 cm |
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| c1925 Untitled tempera, colour pastels and pencil on paper 55.8 x 41.9 cm |
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| c1925 Birth of Birds ink on paper 41.9 x 31.4 cm MoMA, New York |
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| 1925 The Armor oil on canvas 80.6 x 54 cm Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice (Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York) |
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| 1925 Meteora oil on canvas 72.8 x 54.3 cm |
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| 1925 Knight pen and ink on paper 41.5 x 29.8 cm |
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| 1925 Furious Suns ink on paper 42.2 x 31.8 cm MoMA, New York |
1926 Battle of Fishes
Masson made Battle of Fishes by freely applying gesso to areas of the canvas, throwing sand on it, then brushing away the excess. The resulting contours suggested forms "although almost always irrational ones," according to the artist around which he rapidly sketched and applied paint directly from the tube. The image that emerged suggests a savage underwater battle between sharp–toothed fish. Masson, who was physically and spiritually wounded during World War I, joined the Surrealist group in 1924. He believed that, if left to chance, pictorial compositions would reveal the sadism of all living creatures.
MoMA, New York
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| 1926 Battle of Fishes sand, gesso, oil, pencil, and charcoal on canvas 36.2 x 73 cm MoMA, New York |
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| 1926-27 The Haunted Castle oil on canvas 45.5 x 37.4 cm |
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| 1926-27 Figure oil and sand on canvas 46.1 x 26.9 cm MoMA, New York |
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| 1927 Landscape with a wounded bird oil on canvas 81 x 64.8 cm |
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| 1927 Battle of the Fishes chalk, charcoal, conté crayon, and oil on paper 48 x 60.3 cm MoMA, New York |
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| 1928 The Singers oil on canvas 40 x 50.2 cm |
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| 1928 Animals ink on paper 31 x 25 cm |
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| 1929 Mating Animals pastel and charcoal on paper (size not given) |
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| 1929 Encounter pastel on paper 36 x 30 cm |
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| c1929-30 Animal Fight pastel on toned paper 45.5 x 59.6 cm |
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| c1930 Great Landscape pastel on paper 48.5 x 63 cm |
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| 1930 Figures and Shells oil on canvas c33 x 55 cm |
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| 1931 Three characters in a tunnel oil on canvas 73.3 x 60.2 cm |
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| 1931 The Poacher II oil and pencil on canvas 98.2 x 80.1 cm |
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| 1932 The Sileni oil on canvas 46 x 65 cm |
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| 1932 Surprised woman oil over pencil on canvas 100.2 x 85 cm |
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| 1932 Rapt oil on canvas 24.3 x 33.2 cm |
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| 1932 Midi Forest mixed media on paper applied on canvas 49.5 x 63.5 cm |
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| 1932 Abduction oil on canvas 24.3 x 33.2 cm |
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| c1933 printed 1972 Orpheus etching and drypoint 29.6 x 23.3 cm (plate) Published by Blue Moon Gallery, New York |
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| c1933 printed 1972 Drama (Massacre) drypoint 29.7 x 23.6 cm (plate) Published by Blue Moon Gallery, New York |
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| 1933 Winged Character pastel and charcoal on paper 24.2 x 31.7 cm |
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| 1933 Orpheus Outrage oil on canvas 55.2 x 45.9 cm |
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| 1933 Joan of Arc oil on canvas 35 x 27 cm |
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| 1933 Cavalier colour lithograph on paper 45.7 x 35.5 cm |
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| 1933 Ballet Russes de Monte-Carlo lithograph 116.2 x 75.5 cm MoMA, New York |
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| 1934 Almasadiel oil on canvas 55.2 x 33 cm |
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