"André Masson (1896-1987): Little Bather At La Falaise, 1950"
André MASSON (1896-1987) Little bather at the cliff, 1950 Original lithograph on laminated paper Edition n° 7/30 (only 30 copies) Image dimensions: 28 x 24 cm Paper dimensions: 38 x 28 cm Signed and numbered in pencil in the margin Provenance: Galerie Louise Leiris, Paris Paper in perfect condition Sold with invoice and certificate of authenticity. Quick and neat delivery. André MASSON (1896-1987) Seriously injured on the Chemin des Dames in 1917, André Masson would retain an exacerbated sensitivity to it all his life. The massacres, the blood, the death, the extreme violence, the crudeness of the bodies, will be constants in his work. Born in 1896, he studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Brussels (1908-1912). Coming to Paris (1922), he survives with difficulty, meets Max Jacob, Miro. He joined the surrealists in 1923, becoming close to Artaud, Michel Leiris and André Breton. In 1929, he broke with Breton and got closer to Georges Bataille, published illustrations in the magazines “Acéphale” and “La Révolution surréaliste”. He left for Spain where he lived from 1934 to 1937, engaging in the civil war against Francoism. He will collaborate with the magazine "Minotaure" from 1937. Masson goes into exile in the United States during the Second World War. There, he will have a lasting influence on Jackson Pollock, with whom he became friends. His first exhibition is organized in 1928, it will be the beginning of a very long list of events that will lead his work to be hung on the walls of museums around the world. After his death (1987), major retrospectives were organized (Albi, Aix-en-Provence, Paris, Kunstmuseum Bern, etc.). Masson will begin his work with a painting qualified as traditional, he will later be influenced by Fauvism and Cézanne. Will come the symbolism which will establish itself resolutely in his art. He will make automatic drawings, surrealist paintings, produce a very important set of works on paper (engraving, lithography, drawing), will approach sculpture, will illustrate poets.