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 7 of 15-part series on the works of André Masson:
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| 1956 Untitled (Automatic Drawing) sand and mixed media on cardboard 39.5 x 65 cm |
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| 1956 Tourbillon colour lithograph on paper 42 x 59 cm |
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| 1956 The Camargue lithograph 44.8 x 35.7 cm (composition) |
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| 1956 Street at Daybreak lithograph 32.8 x 25.6 cm (composition) |
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| 1956 Spring Wind mixed media on paper 23.5 x 30.5 cm |
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| 1956 Rose and Blue Mountain lithograph 50 x 65.5 cm (sheet) |
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| 1956 Rome: Portico of Octavia lithograph 63.5 x 45.5 cm (sheet) |
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| 1957 Demon Year etching and aquatint on paper 38.1 x 27.9 cm |
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| 1957 Chinese Actors etching on wove paper 59.4 x 44.5 cm |
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| 1957 Birth of a Cicada gouache and ink on paper 50 x 65 cm |
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| 1957 Bird Leaves gouache and India ink wash on paper mounted on canvas 51 x 65 cm |
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| 1957 Beyond oil on cardboard 65 x 81 cm |
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| 1957 Andre Masson: Galerie Leiris lithograph poster 64.7 x 49.9 cm |
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| 1957 Plate from Mines de Rien colour etching and aquatint on Rives paper 43.8 x 36.2 cm |
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| 1957 Plate from Mines de Rien colour etching and aquatint on Rives paper 38.1 x 27.9 cm |
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| 1957 Fire beneath the Ashes tempera, oil and sand on canvas 60 x 70 cm |
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| c1957 Visit to the Louvre oil on paper mounted on canvas 64 x 50 cm |
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| 1957-58 The multiplied Woman oil on canvas 89.5 x 74.3 cm |
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| 1957 Women's Seminary of Rue Saint-Denis VI oil on canvas 46.5 x 27.5 cm |
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| 1957 Untitled tempera on paper 22 x 25 cm |
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| 1957 The Love Bird etching and aquatint on BFK Rives paper 43.8 x 33 cm |
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| 1957 Sparks gouache on paper laid down on canvas 51.5 x 33.3 cm |
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| 1957 Portfolio: The poems of Saint-Pol |
Black and White Serpent etching on Japan paper 32.3 x 24.7 cm
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| 1957 Portfolio: The poems of Saint-Pol Blue Serpent colour etching and Aquatint on BFK Rives paper 42.5 x 31.7 cm |
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| 1958 Lovers in the Countryside etching and aquatint on chamois-colored textured vellum 34.5 x 32 cm |
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| 1958 Love in the Ruins ink on paper 26 x 32 cm |
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| 1958 Florence at Dusk lithograph 50.5 x 65.9 cm (sheet) |
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| 1958 At Night oil on cardboard c71.7 x 26.7 cm |
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| 1958 A Rendez-vous oil on panel 64.8 x 53.4 cm |
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| 1958-59 Forest Migration tempera on card 109.7 x 44.7 cm |
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| 1958 Woman and Warrior pastel and charcoal on paper 43 x 63.5 cm |
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| 1958 Villa d'Este lithograph 56.5 x 37.8 cm (sheet) |
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| 1958 Pompei III lithograph 32 x 44.9 cm (sheet) |
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| 1958 Mélusine gouache and feathers on tinted paper 32.4 x 17.5 cm |
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| 1958-60 Study for Erophages blue ballpoint pen, coloured pencils, pencil, and highlights of silver gouache on paper 33.2 x 25.8 cm |
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| c1959 Sisyphus gouache and coloured pastels on paper 50 x 65 cm |
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| 1959 The Wolf and the Virgin pastel on paper 48.2 x 63.2 cm |
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| 1959 The Tree lithograph 64 x 49.7 cm (sheet) |
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| 1959 The Sun in the Forest lithograph 47 x 34.7 cm (composition) |
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| 1959 The Agony of an Ermine oil and mixed media on paper 50 x 32.6 cm |
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| 1959 On the Trail of Birds oil on canvas laid on card 20.5 x 25.5 cm |
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| 1959 Errance I tempera on canvas 130 x 97 cm Guggenheim Museum, New York |
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| 1959 Dunes oil on cloth-lined board 23.8 x 18.8cm |
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| 1959 Character - Landscape I oil on canvas 55 x 33 cm |
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| 1960 Frenzy oil on canvas 38 x 45.5 cm |
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| 1960 For the Erophages etching and aquatint on paper 43 x 35 cm Published by la Passerelle, Paris |
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| 1960 Abstract Composition colour lithograph on Arches wove paper 50 x 32.8 cm |
