The images and information presented below are for the instruction of students and scholarly research.
Andre Masson
(1896-1987)
Gradiva, 1939
Andre Masson was a
French painter and sculptor and was part of the early
Surrealist movement in France. He received his artistic
training first in Brussels at the Academie Royale des
Beaux-Arts, and then in Paris at the Ecole Nationale
Superieure des Beaux-Arts. By 1920, Masson had settled
in Paris and four years later held his first one-man
show at the Kahnweiler Gaerie Simon.
Le Repas
Masson met with fellow Surrealist painter
Andre Breton in 1924 and joined the Surrealist group
that same year. Like Spanish Surrealist Salvador Dali,
Masson experimented with mediums other than paint during
this time, such as sand. Also like Dali, his themes
often had a dark and violent feel, and were sometimes
dreamlike and erotic. Masson would also infuse Cubism
into his Surrealist paintings during this time, but
would break away from the group in 1928.
Odalisque
Sirenes
The Red Lands and the Montagne Sainte Victoire, 1948
Upon meeting sculptor
Alberto Giacometti in 1927, Masson began to experiment
with sculpture himself. After departing from Surrealism,
his themes remained violent and erotic, but were of a
more Expressionist or Abstract nature. Masson moved to
Spain in 1934 and lived there for two years, executing
landscapes and paintings with Spanish themes, such as
scenes from the Spanish Civil War. During the 1930s, he
also designed sets and costumes for the ballet, opera
and theater.
The Minotaur and the Labyrinth,
1930
Grenade and Insects, 1935
Sculpture, 1942
Masson returned to the Surrealist group
in 1937 after moving back to Paris. However, World War
II briefly stopped his career in 1941 when he was forced
to flee to the United States. Like so many other
artists, Masson's work was considered to be degenerate
by the Nazis.
Pygmalion, 1938
The Sun, 1938
While in the United States, Masson
created imagery of the America's past, much like he did
in Spain, focusing on Native American and African
American history and myths. During the war, he lived in
Connecticut and used his time wisely, continuing to
create art and show his work in New York and elsewhere
in America. He eventually returned to Paris, but left a
mark on American artists and helped to influence early
Abstract Expressionists in the United States.
En Revenenant De L'Execution
In 1943, Masson officially ended his ties
with the Surrealists, and for the rest of his career he
painted Abstracts and landscapes, occasionally returning
to erotic themes and violent compositions.
Cascatelle, 1949
Sigfried and Brunhilde
Hero and Leander, 1979
Though Masson is almost always associated
with Surrealism, his entire body of work is comprised of
a style that is genuinely all his own. True, his most
famous pieces are in a Surrealist hand, but a great many
of his Abstract or Expressionist pieces are likely to
exist outside of public collections, unknown and
otherwise unauthenticated. Sadly, upon his entrance into
the United States, a number of Masson's erotic drawings
were discovered by customs officials. They were deemed
to be pornographic and were destroyed right before his
eyes, though scintillating materials such as those may
have also been confiscated and could still possibly
exist somewhere.
La Faune, 1955
Reclining Nude, 1955
Today, Masson's work is housed in public
and private collections all over the world, including
the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and perhaps in
your own home. Still wondering about a Surrealist
landscape or composition hanging in your home? Contact
us... it could be by Andre Masson.
