Masson
André Masson


Born 1896, Balagny, France. Died 1987 in Paris.
André Breton first discovered Masson's paintings in 1924, and soon after invited him to join the forming Surrealist Movement. He was one of the first of the Surrealist painters to pursue the use of automatism in his works. As with many other members in the Movement, Masson had breaks and reconciliations with Breton and his entourrage.

In Masson's works the interplay of imagery and symbolism from dreams, and raw existence combine to create images nearing a state of full biological activity.



Méditation sur une feuille de chêne

(Meditation on an Oak Leaf), 1942, MOMA (72K)


Le Chantier de Dédale
(The Workshop of Dedalus)
1939, Masson Collection (104K)


The Metaphysical Wall

1940, The Baltimore Museum of Art (88K)


Dans le tour du somneil
(In the Tower of Sleep), 1938, The Baltimore Museum of Art (104K)

Beware the pomegranate set loose in an Airport


References:
André Masson et son Univers
Michel Leiris. Geneve, Editions des Trois Collines, 1947.
André Masson
Editions Rizzoli, 1994.