André Masson was a French painter, sculptor, illustrator, designer and writer. He studied at the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Brussels at the very young age of eleven before moving to Paris to attend the École des Beaux-Arts from 1912 to 1914. Initially inspired by Paul Cézanne, he later developed an interest in cubism from Juan Gris and subsequently surrealism.

Masson was seriously injured in the First World War and spent months in military hospitals and a psychiatric facility. Much of his work was underpinned by trauma, with themes revolving around nature, metamorphosis, mythology, violence, eroticism, love and death. His ‘automatic drawings’, channelled through his subconscious, had a great influence on Jackson Pollock. From 1923, Masson was a regular exhibitor at the Galerie Simon in Paris (later Galerie Louise Leiris).