Andre Masson 1896

André Masson (1896-1987) played a decisive role in the development of Surrealism and Abstract Expressionism. Artists and writers such as André Breton, Joan Miró and Georges Bataille were among his acquaintances. Although he was instrumental in the development of the movements mentioned above, Masson remained stylistically independent and difficult to classify. From his earlier engagement with Cubism and Surrealism to his later calligraphic abstract work, he left an indelible mark on modern art as we know it. In the early 1930s, Masson occupied himself with the theme of massacres. During this period, his work is haunting, angry and violent. 'Femme Surprise' stems from this creatively productive period, during which he was exposed to many different art movements and his personal life went through a turbulent phase. This painting, a view of the woman, is anything but lifelike. It is difficult to recognize a face, but one can roughly make out the limbs, which are long and supple. The work is both violent and dynamic. The arms flail wildly around while the woman stands in a brown pool of blood. Parts of her intestines are visible protruding. On the right side, a dark figure looms above her; perhaps it is a shadow of the perpetrator or perhaps death itself. Masson abandons Cubist angularity in favor of softer forms that flow and move sluggishly. He remains faithful to the Cubist mannerism of cube-casting the picture surface, which he fills with flat, saturated brown, yellow, blue and maroon. While the colour palette consists mostly of warm colours, this tonal harmony is broken up by the use of light blue in the picture surface. The part depicted in blue lacks every detail, while the portion depicted with warm colours is more structured and richer in detail. @die galerie will partner with Galerie M. F. Toninelli Art Moderne during ART COLOGNE 2020, from 19 - 22 November. They will jointly present a selection of great works, in fact a juxtaposition, of the two modern, iconic masters André Masson and Roberto Matta. Image: André Masson (1896 - 1987), Femme surprise, 1932. Oil on canvas, 100 x 84,8 cm. Courtesy DIE GALERIE. #diegalerie #mftoninelliartmoderne