Printer: Sérigraphie L'Atelier

Dimensions: 67 x 43 cm

Condition: Very good 

Available: Charcoal  

Description: More than fifty years of André Masson’s work came together in this major retrospective at Galerie Lahumière in Paris in 1983, with paintings, pastels, drawings and prints spanning the years 1924 to 1975.

Masson was one of the pioneers of Surrealism and is best remembered for developing automatic drawing, allowing instinct rather than conscious thought to guide the hand. The approach had a lasting influence, not only on the Surrealists but later on artists such as Jackson Pollock. His imagery is unmistakable, with figures, animals and landscapes flowing into one another in compositions that seem to exist somewhere between dreams and reality.

Printed as a silkscreen on Canson paper, the poster conveys the energy and freedom that run through Masson’s work. It also marks a point when one of the last major figures of the original Surrealist movement was being recognised for a lifetime of inventive work.

Artist: André Masson (1896-1987) was a French painter, sculptor, illustrator, designer and writer. He studied at the Brussels Académie des Beaux-Arts at the very young age of eleven before moving to Paris to attend the École des Beaux-Art 1912-1914. He was initially inspired by Paul Cézanne before developing an interest in cubism from Juan Gris, and later 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. Themes revolved around nature, metamorphosis, mythology, violence, eroticism, love and death. His ‘automatic drawings’, which he 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 called Galerie Louise Leiris).