André MassonDon Giovanni, Surreal Lithograph by Andre Masson1978
1978
About the Item
- Creator:André Masson (1896-1987, French)
- Creation Year:1978
- Dimensions:Height: 30 in (76.2 cm)Width: 22 in (55.88 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Framing:Framing Options Available
- Condition:In very good condition apart from age-toning in the margins.
- Gallery Location:Long Island City, NY
- Reference Number:
André Masson
Born in 1896 in Balagny-sur- Thérain, a small village in France, André Masson spent most of his youth in Brussels, Belgium working as a pattern maker at an embroidery atelier. Masson began his schooling in 1907 at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels. In 1912, he relocated to Paris, where he attended the École des Beaux-Arts. In 1914, the artist was called to military duty for the First World War, where he was severely wounded and sent back to Paris. Much of Masson’s work is influenced by this trauma; his drawings and paintings executed during the 1920s represent battle scenes, blood, death, birds and fish. The strange realities of trench warfare and the immediate contiguity of life and death are drawn upon, and his imagery suggests a confrontation of life at an abnormal level of experience. His signature style deals with violence, evident in terrifying, fragmented figures, which reflect the horrors of the Spanish Civil War and WWII, as well as his troubled psyche in the aftermath of his service in WWI.
After WWI, Masson moved to the South of France, where he met Juan Gris, André Derain, Joan Miró and André Breton. Breton championed the Surrealist Manifesto and Masson joined in the group exhibition of the first Surrealists. An iconoclast, whose abrupt stylistic transitions defy classification, Masson also explored automatism (automatic drawing), a process that sought to express the creative force of the unconscious. These automatic drawings had no preconceived subject or composition. Like a medium channeling a spirit, Masson let his pen travel rapidly across the paper without conscious control. He soon found hints of images, fragmented bodies and objects, emerging from the abstract, lacelike web of pen marks. At times, Masson elaborated on these with conscious changes or additions, but he left the traces of the rapidly drawn ink mostly intact. Masson’s oeuvre explores several techniques of painting, drawing and sculpture and displays rich, colorful abstraction as well as monochrome imagery and automatic linear representations. An early Surrealist and student of Cubism, Masson went on to inspire the New York Abstract Expressionists. Masson developed a technique of automatic painting that retained the element of chance; he dripped glue onto paper to form drawings and then covered it with sand. These ‘sand paintings’ are unquestionably his most iconic style.
When Masson emigrated to the U.S. in 1939, he strongly influenced several American painters with this technique, the most evident example being Jackson Pollack. After his time in America, he returned to Europe and while living in Spain during the mid-1930s, he became enraptured with Spanish themes—bullfights, matadors and Spanish mythology. Masson finally settled down in France (Aix-en-Provence), where he took up a late interest in impressionistic landscape, but he ultimately came to a place where he painted nearly exclusively abstract images. Masson dedicated his life as an artist to encouraging the non-rational purpose in art, to the direct transference of subconscious thought and to the primal forces of conflicts that he experienced in the trenches of World War One. Masson sought to convey in his work a deeper reality of man’s behavior, his own complex personal imagery, and his belief that painting is not a matter of developing style but a part of life itself.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Long Island City, NY
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 7 days of delivery.
- Visage, Surreal Lithograph by Andre MassonBy André MassonLocated in Long Island City, NYArtist: Andre Masson, French (1896 - 1987) Title: Visage Year: circa 1960 Medium: Lithograph on Arches, Signed and numbered in pencil Edition: 97/200 Size: 30 in. x 22 in. (76.2 cm x...Category
1960s Surrealist Figurative Prints
MaterialsLithograph
- Night: William Dunas Dance 3 (Pamela)By Alex KatzLocated in Long Island City, NYArtist: Alex Katz, American (1927 - ) Title: Night: William Dunas Dance 3 (Pamela) Year: 1983 Medium: Lithograph on Arches, signed and numbered in pencil Edition: 100, 42 AP Size: 25...Category
1980s Contemporary Portrait Prints
MaterialsLithograph
- Olga Picasso Portrait by Pablo PicassoBy Pablo PicassoLocated in Long Island City, NYA lithograph from the Marina Picasso Estate Collection after the Pablo Picasso painting "Olga Picasso". The original painting was completed in 1922. In the 1970's after Picasso's de...Category
1980s Impressionist Portrait Prints
MaterialsLithograph
- Tete de Femme en Gris et Rouge sur Fond Ochre, Lithography by Pablo PicassoBy Pablo PicassoLocated in Long Island City, NYRendered in bold hues of red and mustard with shading in black, this Pablo Picasso portrait relies on thick, dark lines to shape the face of the woman shown. Accented by the flowing ...Category
Late 20th Century Cubist Portrait Prints
MaterialsLithograph
- Girl in Blue, Lithograph by Charles LevierBy Charles LevierLocated in Long Island City, NYGirl in Blue Charles Levier, French (1920–2003) Date: circa 1970 Lithograph, signed in pencil l.r. Edition of 250 Image Size: 24 x 17 inches Size: 30 x 22 in. (76.2 x 55.88 cm)Category
1970s Fauvist Figurative Prints
MaterialsLithograph
- The Crucifixion, Realist Lithograph by Joseph HirschBy Joseph HirschLocated in Long Island City, NYArtist: Joseph Hirsch, American (1901 - 1981) Title: The Crucifixion Year: circa 1979 Medium: Lithograph, Signed and Numbered in Pencil Edition: 100 Si...Category
1960s American Realist Figurative Prints
MaterialsLithograph
- Salvador Dali - Don QuichotteBy Salvador DalíLocated in Collonge Bellerive, Geneve, CHSalvador Dali - Don Quichotte - Original Lithograph Joseph FORET, Paris, 1957 PRINTER : Atelier Mourlot. SIGNATURE : printed signature in the plate LIMI...Category
1950s Surrealist Figurative Prints
MaterialsLithograph
- Théo Tobiasse - Jerusalem Inside - Original Lithograph with CollageBy Théo TobiasseLocated in Collonge Bellerive, Geneve, CHThéo Tobiasse Title: Jerusalem roule le long de ma gorge Signed and Numbered Dimensions: 57 x 76 cm Information : Edition of 175 Condition : ExcellentCategory
1980s Surrealist Figurative Prints
MaterialsLithograph
- Théo Tobiasse - A train - Original LithographBy Théo TobiasseLocated in Collonge Bellerive, Geneve, CHThéo Tobiasse Title: C'est un train portant un parfum d'odalisque Signed and Numbered Dimensions: 57 x 76 cm Information : Edition of 175 Condition : E...Category
1980s Surrealist Figurative Prints
MaterialsLithograph
- Salvador Dali - Apparition de Dulcinée - Original LithographBy Salvador DalíLocated in Collonge Bellerive, Geneve, CHSalvador Dali - Apparition de Dulcinée - Original Lithograph Joseph FORET, Paris, 1957 SIGNATURE : printed in the image LIMITED : 197 copies. SIZE : 41 x 33 cm REFERENCES : Field 57...Category
1950s Surrealist Figurative Prints
MaterialsLithograph
- Théo Tobiasse - A Man Talking About Mornings - Original LithographBy Théo TobiasseLocated in Collonge Bellerive, Geneve, CHThéo Tobiasse Title: Un Homme Raconte les Matins Signed and Numbered Dimensions: 57 x 76 cm Information : Edition of 175 Condition : ExcellentCategory
1980s Surrealist Figurative Prints
MaterialsLithograph
- Théo Tobiasse - Abraham Sacrifice - Original Lithograph with collageBy Théo TobiasseLocated in Collonge Bellerive, Geneve, CHThéo Tobiasse Title: Le Sacrifice d'Abraham Signed and Numbered Dimensions: 57 x 76 cm Information : Edition of 175 Condition : ExcellentCategory
1980s Surrealist Figurative Prints
MaterialsLithograph
Recently Viewed
View AllRead More
Chryssa’s 1962 Neon Sculpture Was Way ahead of the Art-World Curve
By working with lettering, neon and Pop imagery, Chryssa pioneered several postmodern themes at a time when most male artists detested commercial mediums.
7 Exciting Works by Female Artists from the RoGallery Auction
Prints by these modern and contemporary visionaries are relatively affordable — for now.