André Masson
Le Fil d'Ariane
1974

Name: Le Fil d'Ariane
Brand: André Masson
Price: 1750 USD
Availability: InStock

$1,750

About

An original signed etching with aquatint by French artist Andre Masson (1896-1987) titled "Le Fil d'Ariane", 1974. Hand pencil signed by Masson lower right and numbered lower left. Limited edition: 15/100. Comes from the 'Meyer Schapiro' portfolio which contained four lithographs (one with embossing), three screenprints (one with stamp additions), two lithographs and screenprints (one with embossing), two etching and aquatints, and one duplicated drawing, all executed in 1973 and then published in 1974. Printed by Atelier Crommelynck, Paris, France and published by The Committee to Endow a Chair in Honor of Meyer Schapiro at Columbia University, New York, NY. A fantastic example of Masson's famed erotic surrealist work. The Museum of Modern Art in New York, NY has an example of this work in their permanent collection. Sheet size: 18" x 13.5". Image size: 11.5" x 8.5". In excellent condition. Rare. André Masson (b. Balagny-sur-Thérain 1896 - Paris 1987) was a French artist. He was brought up in Belgium. He began his study of art at the age of eleven in Brussels, at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts under the guidance of Constant Montald, and later he studied in Paris. He fought for France during World War I and was seriously injured. His early works display an interest in cubism. He later became associated with surrealism, and he was one of the most enthusiastic employers of automatic drawing, making a number of automatic works in pen and ink. Masson experimented with altered states of consciousness with artists such as Antonin Artaud, Michel Leiris, Joan Miró, Georges Bataille, Jean Dubuffet, and Georges Malkine, who were neighbors of his studio in Paris. By the end of the 1920s, however, he was finding automatic drawing rather restricting, and he left the surrealist movement and turned instead to a more structured style, often producing works with a violent or erotic theme, and making a number of paintings in reaction to the Spanish Civil War. Under the German occupation of France during World War II, his work was condemned by the Nazis as degenerate. With the assistance of Varian Fry in Marseille, Masson escaped the Nazi regime on a ship to the French island of Martinique from where he went on to the United States. Upon arrival in New York City, U.S. customs officials inspecting Masson's luggage found a cache of his erotic drawings. Denouncing them as pornographic, they ripped them up before the artist's eyes. Living in New Preston, Connecticut his work became an important influence on American abstract expressionists, such as Jackson Pollock. Following the war, he returned to France and settled in Aix-en-Provence where he painted a number of landscapes.

Details

Artist
André Masson (1896-1987, French)
Creation Year
1974
Medium
Aquatint,Etching

Movement & Style
Surrealist
Condition
Excellent
Period
1970-1979

Dimensions
H 18 in. x W 13.5 in.H 45.72 cm x W 34.29 cm
Gallery Location
Saint Augustine, FL
Reference Number
LU1212562492

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