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Surrealist Art

SURREALIST STYLE

In the wake of World War I’s ravaging of Europe, artists delved into the unconscious mind to confront and grapple with this reality. Poet and critic André Breton, a leader of the Surrealist movement who authored the 1924 Surrealist Manifesto, called this approach “a violent reaction against the impoverishment and sterility of thought processes that resulted from centuries of rationalism.” Surrealist art emerged in the 1920s with dreamlike and uncanny imagery guided by a variety of techniques such as automatic drawing, which can be likened to a stream of consciousness, to channel psychological experiences.

Although Surrealism was a groundbreaking approach for European art, its practitioners were inspired by Indigenous art and ancient mysticism for reenvisioning how sculptures, paintings, prints, performance art and more could respond to the unsettled world around them.

Surrealist artists were also informed by the Dada movement, which originated in 1916 Zurich and embraced absurdity over the logic that had propelled modernity into violence. Some of the Surrealists had witnessed this firsthand, such as Max Ernst, who served in the trenches during World War I, and Salvador Dalí, whose otherworldly paintings and other work responded to the dawning civil war in Spain.

Other key artists associated with the revolutionary art and literary movement included Man Ray, Joan Miró, René Magritte, Yves Tanguy, Frida Kahlo and Meret Oppenheim, all of whom had a distinct perspective on reimagining reality and freeing the unconscious mind from the conventions and restrictions of rational thought. Pablo Picasso showed some of his works in “La Peinture Surréaliste” — the first collective exhibition of Surrealist painting — which opened at Paris’s Galerie Pierre in November of 1925. (Although Magritte is best known as one of the visual Surrealist movement’s most talented practitioners, his famous 1943 painting, The Fifth Season, can be interpreted as a formal break from Surrealism.)

The outbreak of World War II led many in the movement to flee Europe for the Americas, further spreading Surrealism abroad. Generations of modern and contemporary artists were subsequently influenced by the richly symbolic and unearthly imagery of Surrealism, from Joseph Cornell to Arshile Gorky.

Find a collection of original Surrealist paintings, sculptures, prints and multiples and more art on 1stDibs.

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Style: Surrealist
Artist: André Masson
Le Fil d'Ariane (Ariadne's Clew) /// Modern Surrealism Surrelist Andre Masson
Located in Saint Augustine, FL
Artist: André Masson (French, 1896-1987) Title: "Le Fil d'Ariane (Ariadne's Clew)" Portfolio: For Meyer Schapiro *Signed by Masson in pencil lower right Year: 1973 Medium: Original Etching with Aquatint on Rives BFK paper Limited edition: 15/100 Printer: Atelier Crommelynck, Paris, France Publisher: The Committee to Endow a Chair in Honor of Meyer Schapiro at Columbia University, New York, NY Sheet size: 18" x 13.5" Image size: 11.5" x 8.5" Condition: Never framed, has been professionally stored away for decades. In excellent condition Rare Notes: Numbered by Masson in pencil lower left. Comes from the 1974 "For Meyer Schapiro" portfolio of twelve print editions by various artists. The "For Meyer Schapiro" portfolio consisted of 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. Various printers were used. In addition to Masson, the following artists also contributed to the portfolio: Stanley William Hayter, Jasper Johns, Ellsworth Kelly, Alexander Liberman, Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Motherwell, Claes Oldenburg, Robert Rauschenberg, Saul Steinberg, Frank Stella, and Andy Warhol. Biography: 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...
Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Etching, Intaglio, Aquatint

Surrealist Woman
Located in San Francisco, CA
Artist: Andre Masson (French) Title: Surrealist Woman Year: 1970 Medium: Color lithograph Edition: Numbered 146/200 in pencil Image size: 24 x 18.5 inches Signature: Hand signed in...
Category

Mid-20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

"The Sun" original lithograph
Located in Henderson, NV
Medium: original lithograph. Published in Paris in 1938 by Teriade for the second issue of the art revue Verve (Volume 1, Number 2). Andre Masson was invited to contribute an origina...
Category

1930s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

original lithograph
Located in Henderson, NV
Medium: original lithograph. Printed in 1972 for the art revue XXe Siecle (issue No. 38). Size: 12 1/4 x 9 1/4 inches (310 x 237 mm). Not signed.
Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

"The Moon" original lithograph
Located in Henderson, NV
Medium: original lithograph. Published in Paris in 1938 by Teriade for the second issue of the art revue Verve (Volume 1, Number 2). Andre Masson was invited to contribute an origina...
Category

1930s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

André Masson, "Figures in Landscape, " hand signed lithograph in colors
Located in Chatsworth, CA
André Masson Figures in Landscape Lithograph in colors on Arches paper Hand signed in pencil, numbered 51/150
Category

Mid-20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Don Giovanni, Surreal Lithograph by Andre Masson
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Andre Masson, French (1896 - 1987) Title: Don Giovanni Year: 1978 Medium: Lithograph on Arches, Signed and numbered in pencil Edition: 163/250 Size: 30 in. x 22 in. (76.2 cm ...
Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Torse Tatoué - Lithograph by André Masson - 1947
Located in Roma, IT
This lithograph is hand signed and numbered. Edition of 75 prints. André Masson (1896-1987) was a French painter, whose style was influenced by Cubism and Surrealism . After traveli...
Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Anatomie de Mon Univers
Located in Wilton, CT
Reprint of Andre Masson's book from 1939. Printed on heavy wove paper. 30 plates of black and white drawings.
Category

1930s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Torse Tatoué - Lithograph by André Masson - 1947
Located in Roma, IT
This lithograph is hand signed and numbered. Edition of 75 prints. André Masson (1896-1987) was a French painter, whose style was influenced by Cubism and Surrealism . After traveli...
Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

"Le combat des poissons "Pencil study with annotations , cm. 30 x 20 1940 ca
Located in Torino, IT
André Masson ( 1896-1987) Pencil study with annotations on the right side, acquired by the previous owner from Luis Masson son of Andrè Masson
Category

1940s Surrealist Art

Materials

Paper, Pencil

Une Saison en Enfer - Rare Book illustrated by André Masson - 1961
Located in Roma, IT
Edition of 92 copies plus 10 Artist Proofs, including 6 original etchings numbered and signed by Hans Richter and six poems by Grytzko Mascioni. Original hard creative slipcase on gr...
Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Paper

Profil rose
Located in New York, NY
A very good impression of this color lithograph. Signed and numbered 14/200 in pencil.
Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Color, Lithograph

"Bacchanale from Je Reve (I Dream) Portfolio, " Original Color Lithograph
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Bacchanale" is an original color lithograph by Andre Masson. This piece is from the Je Reve (I Dream) portfolio and is edition number H.C. XVV/XVV. Masson signed the piece in pencil...
Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

"Le Prince Iris, " Surrealist Lithograph From "Je Reve" Portfolio
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Le Prince Iris" is an original color lithograph by Andre Masson. The artist signed the piece lower right in pencil and wrote the edition number, H.C. XXV/X...
Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

"Le Philosophe Au Papillon, " an Original Color Lithograph, Signed
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Le Philosophe Au Papillon", from Je Reve (I Dream) Portfolio, is an original color lithograph signed in pencil lower right by French Surrealist artist Andre Masson. This is H.C. XXV/XXV. It depicts a brightly colored man...
Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

"Satan" from "Je Reve" portfolio, Surrealist Lithograph, Signed
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Satan" is an original color lithograph by Andre Masson. This piece is from the "Je Reve" (I Dream) portfolio of 1975. The edition number, written lower left, is H.C. XXV/XXV. The ar...
Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Paper, Lithograph

Dancing under the Stars - Original lithograph, Signed
Located in Paris, FR
Andre MASSON Dancing under the Stars, 1973 Original lithograph Signed with the stamp of the artist Numbered / 100 On vellum 58 x 38 cm (c. 23 x 15 in) Very good condition, small de...
Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Satan /// Surrealism Modern Andre Masson French Lithograph Mythological Art
Located in Saint Augustine, FL
Artist: André Masson (French, 1896-1987) Title: "Satan" Portfolio: Je Rêve (I Dream) *Signed by Masson in pencil lower center Year: 1975 Medium: Original Lithograph on Arches paper L...
Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Viviane French Original Surrealist Lithograph signed and numbered Andre Masson
Located in Surfside, FL
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 would often force himself to work under strict conditions, for example, after long periods of time without food or sleep, or under the influence of drugs. He believed forcing himself into a reduced state of consciousness would help his art be free from rational control, and hence get closer to the workings of his subconscious mind.[citation needed] 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. From around 1926 he experimented by throwing sand and glue onto canvas and making oil paintings based around the shapes that formed. 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 (he associated once more with the surrealists at the end of the 1930s). 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.[citation needed] 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. Masson drew the cover of the first issue of Georges Bataille's review, Acéphale, in 1936, and participated in all its issues until 1939. His brother-in-law, the psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan...
Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

French Abstract Surrealist Color Lithograph Andre Masson
Located in Surfside, FL
Published Benincasa Carmine. Edizioni SEAT, Torino, Italy. Offset directly from the original plates. Limited edition. This is not hand signed or numbered. Signature in the printing p...
Category

20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph, Offset

French Abstract Surrealist Color Lithograph Andre Masson
Located in Surfside, FL
Published Benincasa Carmine. Edizioni SEAT, Torino, Italy. Offset directly from the original plates. Limited edition. This is not hand signed or numbered. Signature in the printing plate. Size is of the full sheet. André-Aimé-René Masson (4 January 1896 – 28 October 1987) was a French artist. Masson was born in Balagny-sur-Thérain, Oise, but when he was eight his father's work took the family first briefly to Lille and then to Brussels. He began his study of art at the age of eleven at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, 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 would often force himself to work under strict conditions, for example, after long periods of time without food or sleep, or under the influence of drugs. He believed forcing himself into a reduced state of consciousness would help his art be free from rational control, and hence get closer to the workings of his subconscious mind. Masson experimented with altered states of consciousness with artists such as Antonin Artaud, Michel Leiris, Joan Miro, Georges Bataille, Jean Dubuffet, and Georges Malkine, who were neighbors of his studio in Paris. From around 1926 he experimented by throwing sand and glue onto canvas and making oil paintings based around the shapes that formed. 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 (he associated once more with the surrealists at the end of the 1930s). 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, In particular Arshile Gorky drew on it, as did Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko. Following the war, he returned to France and settled in Aix-en-Provence where he painted a number of landscapes. Masson drew the cover of the first issue of Georges Bataille's review, Acéphale, in 1936, and participated in all its issues until 1939. His brother-in-law, the psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan...
Category

20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph, Offset

French Abstract Surrealist Color Lithograph Andre Masson
Located in Surfside, FL
Published Benincasa Carmine. Edizioni SEAT, Torino, Italy. Offset directly from the original plates. Limited edition. This is not hand signed or numbered. Signature in the printing p...
Category

20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph, Offset

French Abstract Surrealist Color Lithograph Andre Masson
Located in Surfside, FL
Published Benincasa Carmine. Edizioni SEAT, Torino, Italy. Offset directly from the original plates. Limited edition. This is not hand signed or numbered. Signature in the printing plate. Size is of the full sheet. André-Aimé-René Masson (4 January 1896 – 28 October 1987) was a French artist. Masson was born in Balagny-sur-Thérain, Oise, but when he was eight his father's work took the family first briefly to Lille and then to Brussels. He began his study of art at the age of eleven at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, 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 would often force himself to work under strict conditions, for example, after long periods of time without food or sleep, or under the influence of drugs. He believed forcing himself into a reduced state of consciousness would help his art be free from rational control, and hence get closer to the workings of his subconscious mind. Masson experimented with altered states of consciousness with artists such as Antonin Artaud, Michel Leiris, Joan Miro, Georges Bataille, Jean Dubuffet, and Georges Malkine, who were neighbors of his studio in Paris. From around 1926 he experimented by throwing sand and glue onto canvas and making oil paintings based around the shapes that formed. 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 (he associated once more with the surrealists at the end of the 1930s). 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, In particular Arshile Gorky drew on it, as did Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko. Following the war, he returned to France and settled in Aix-en-Provence where he painted a number of landscapes. Masson drew the cover of the first issue of Georges Bataille's review, Acéphale, in 1936, and participated in all its issues until 1939. His brother-in-law, the psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan...
Category

20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph, Offset

French Abstract Surrealist Color Lithograph Andre Masson
Located in Surfside, FL
Published Benincasa Carmine. Edizioni SEAT, Torino, Italy. Offset directly from the original plates. Limited edition. This is not hand signed or numbered. Signature in the printing plate. Size is of the full sheet. André-Aimé-René Masson (4 January 1896 – 28 October 1987) was a French artist. Masson was born in Balagny-sur-Thérain, Oise, but when he was eight his father's work took the family first briefly to Lille and then to Brussels. He began his study of art at the age of eleven at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, 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 would often force himself to work under strict conditions, for example, after long periods of time without food or sleep, or under the influence of drugs. He believed forcing himself into a reduced state of consciousness would help his art be free from rational control, and hence get closer to the workings of his subconscious mind. Masson experimented with altered states of consciousness with artists such as Antonin Artaud, Michel Leiris, Joan Miro, Georges Bataille, Jean Dubuffet, and Georges Malkine, who were neighbors of his studio in Paris. From around 1926 he experimented by throwing sand and glue onto canvas and making oil paintings based around the shapes that formed. 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 (he associated once more with the surrealists at the end of the 1930s). 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, In particular Arshile Gorky drew on it, as did Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko. Following the war, he returned to France and settled in Aix-en-Provence where he painted a number of landscapes. Masson drew the cover of the first issue of Georges Bataille's review, Acéphale, in 1936, and participated in all its issues until 1939. His brother-in-law, the psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan...
Category

20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph, Offset

French Abstract Surrealist Color Lithograph Andre Masson
Located in Surfside, FL
Published Benincasa Carmine. Edizioni SEAT, Torino, Italy. Offset directly from the original plates. Limited edition. This is not hand signed or numbered. Signature in the printing plate. Size is of the full sheet. André-Aimé-René Masson (4 January 1896 – 28 October 1987) was a French artist. Masson was born in Balagny-sur-Thérain, Oise, but when he was eight his father's work took the family first briefly to Lille and then to Brussels. He began his study of art at the age of eleven at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, 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 would often force himself to work under strict conditions, for example, after long periods of time without food or sleep, or under the influence of drugs. He believed forcing himself into a reduced state of consciousness would help his art be free from rational control, and hence get closer to the workings of his subconscious mind. Masson experimented with altered states of consciousness with artists such as Antonin Artaud, Michel Leiris, Joan Miro, Georges Bataille, Jean Dubuffet, and Georges Malkine, who were neighbors of his studio in Paris. From around 1926 he experimented by throwing sand and glue onto canvas and making oil paintings based around the shapes that formed. 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 (he associated once more with the surrealists at the end of the 1930s). 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, In particular Arshile Gorky drew on it, as did Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko. Following the war, he returned to France and settled in Aix-en-Provence where he painted a number of landscapes. Masson drew the cover of the first issue of Georges Bataille's review, Acéphale, in 1936, and participated in all its issues until 1939. His brother-in-law, the psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan...
Category

20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph, Offset

French Abstract Surrealist Lithograph Andre Masson Mourlot Paris Limited Edition
Located in Surfside, FL
This is from the suite by Jean Paul Sartre and Andre Masson, Limited edition of 175. published by Fernand Mourlot, 1961. The portfolio is numbered #29/175 and hand signed by Andre Ma...
Category

20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

French Abstract Surrealist Color Lithograph Andre Masson
Located in Surfside, FL
Published Benincasa Carmine. Edizioni SEAT, Torino, Italy. Offset directly from the original plates. Limited edition. This is not hand signed or numbered. Signature in the printing plate. Size is of the full sheet. André-Aimé-René Masson (4 January 1896 – 28 October 1987) was a French artist. Masson was born in Balagny-sur-Thérain, Oise, but when he was eight his father's work took the family first briefly to Lille and then to Brussels. He began his study of art at the age of eleven at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, 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 would often force himself to work under strict conditions, for example, after long periods of time without food or sleep, or under the influence of drugs. He believed forcing himself into a reduced state of consciousness would help his art be free from rational control, and hence get closer to the workings of his subconscious mind. Masson experimented with altered states of consciousness with artists such as Antonin Artaud, Michel Leiris, Joan Miro, Georges Bataille, Jean Dubuffet, and Georges Malkine, who were neighbors of his studio in Paris. From around 1926 he experimented by throwing sand and glue onto canvas and making oil paintings based around the shapes that formed. 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 (he associated once more with the surrealists at the end of the 1930s). 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, In particular Arshile Gorky drew on it, as did Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko. Following the war, he returned to France and settled in Aix-en-Provence where he painted a number of landscapes. Masson drew the cover of the first issue of Georges Bataille's review, Acéphale, in 1936, and participated in all its issues until 1939. His brother-in-law, the psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan...
Category

20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph, Offset

French Abstract Surrealist Color Lithograph Andre Masson
Located in Surfside, FL
Published Benincasa Carmine. Edizioni SEAT, Torino, Italy. Offset directly from the original plates. Limited edition. This is not hand signed or numbered. Signature in the printing p...
Category

20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph, Offset

French Abstract Surrealist Lithograph Andre Masson Mourlot Paris Limited Edition
Located in Surfside, FL
This is from the suite by Jean Paul Sartre and Andre Masson, Limited edition of 175. published by Fernand Mourlot, 1961. The portfolio is numbered #29/175 and hand signed by Andre Ma...
Category

20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

French Abstract Surrealist Color Lithograph Andre Masson
Located in Surfside, FL
Published Benincasa Carmine. Edizioni SEAT, Torino, Italy. Offset directly from the original plates. Limited edition. This is not hand signed or numbered. Signature in the printing plate. Size is of the full sheet. André-Aimé-René Masson (4 January 1896 – 28 October 1987) was a French artist. Masson was born in Balagny-sur-Thérain, Oise, but when he was eight his father's work took the family first briefly to Lille and then to Brussels. He began his study of art at the age of eleven at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, 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 would often force himself to work under strict conditions, for example, after long periods of time without food or sleep, or under the influence of drugs. He believed forcing himself into a reduced state of consciousness would help his art be free from rational control, and hence get closer to the workings of his subconscious mind. Masson experimented with altered states of consciousness with artists such as Antonin Artaud, Michel Leiris, Joan Miro, Georges Bataille, Jean Dubuffet, and Georges Malkine, who were neighbors of his studio in Paris. From around 1926 he experimented by throwing sand and glue onto canvas and making oil paintings based around the shapes that formed. 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 (he associated once more with the surrealists at the end of the 1930s). 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, In particular Arshile Gorky drew on it, as did Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko. Following the war, he returned to France and settled in Aix-en-Provence where he painted a number of landscapes. Masson drew the cover of the first issue of Georges Bataille's review, Acéphale, in 1936, and participated in all its issues until 1939. His brother-in-law, the psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan...
Category

20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph, Offset

Mythologies - Rare Book illustrated by André Masson - 1946
Located in Roma, IT
Mythologies is an original Rare Book engraved by André Masson (Balagny, Oise, 1896 - Paris, 1987) in 1946. Original Edition. Published by Editions de la Revue Fontaine, Paris. Fo...
Category

1940s Surrealist Art

Materials

Photogravure

French Abstract Surrealist Color Lithograph Andre Masson
Located in Surfside, FL
Published Benincasa Carmine. Edizioni SEAT, Torino, Italy. Offset directly from the original plates. Limited edition. This is not hand signed or numbered. Signature in the printing p...
Category

20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph, Offset

French Abstract Surrealist Lithograph Andre Masson Mourlot Paris Limited Edition
Located in Surfside, FL
This is from the suite by Jean Paul Sartre and Andre Masson, Limited edition of 175. published by Fernand Mourlot, 1961. The portfolio is numbered #29/175 and hand signed by Andre Ma...
Category

20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Intérieur Vénitien (Venetian Interior) /// Surrealism Modern Andre Masson Nude
Located in Saint Augustine, FL
Artist: Andre Masson (French, 1896-1987) Title: "Interieur Vénitien (Venetian Interior)" *Signed by Masson in pencil lower right Year: 1975 Medium: Original Lithograph on Arches paper Limited edition: 45/125 Printer: Atelier Mourlot, Paris, France Publisher: Galerie Louise Leiris, Paris, France Reference: "Andre Masson Graphik" - Passerson page 177 Sheet size: 26" x 20" Condition: Never framed, has been professionally stored away for decades. Some light handling creases in left margin. In excellent condition Notes: Numbered by Masson in pencil lower left. Arches watermark right center margin. Biography: 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...
Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

French Abstract Surrealist Lithograph Andre Masson Mourlot Paris Limited Edition
Located in Surfside, FL
This is from the suite by Jean Paul Sartre and Andre Masson, Limited edition of 175. published by Fernand Mourlot, 1961. The portfolio is numbered #29/175 and hand signed by Andre Ma...
Category

20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

French Abstract Surrealist Lithograph Andre Masson Mourlot Paris Limited Edition
Located in Surfside, FL
This is from the suite by Jean Paul Sartre and Andre Masson, Limited edition of 175. published by Fernand Mourlot, 1961. The portfolio is numbered #29/175 and hand signed by Andre Ma...
Category

20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

French Abstract Surrealist Lithograph Andre Masson Mourlot Paris Limited Edition
Located in Surfside, FL
This is from the suite by Jean Paul Sartre and Andre Masson, Limited edition of 175. published by Fernand Mourlot, 1961. The portfolio is numbered #29/175 and hand signed by Andre Ma...
Category

20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

French Abstract Surrealist Color Lithograph Andre Masson
Located in Surfside, FL
Published Benincasa Carmine. Edizioni SEAT, Torino, Italy. Offset directly from the original plates. Limited edition. This is not hand signed or numbered. Signature in the printing p...
Category

20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Offset, Lithograph

French Abstract Surrealist Lithograph Andre Masson Mourlot Paris Limited Edition
Located in Surfside, FL
This is from the suite by Jean Paul Sartre and Andre Masson, Limited edition of 175. published by Fernand Mourlot, 1961. The portfolio is numbered #29/175 and hand signed by Andre Ma...
Category

20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Abstract Composition - Original Etching by Andre Masson - 1965
Located in Roma, IT
Abstract Composition is an original black and white etching on cardboard realized in 1965 by André Masson. Hand-signed and dated on the lower right margin. On the lower left margin...
Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Etching

Surrealist Composition 10 - Original Collotype by André Masson -Mid-20th century
Located in Roma, IT
Surrealist Composition 10 is an original collotype print realized by André Masson. The artwork is in good conditions, no signature on a yellowed paper. André Masson (1896-1987)was ...
Category

Mid-20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Black and White

Surrealist Composition 9 - Original Collotype Print by A. Masson - 20th Century
Located in Roma, IT
Surrealist Composition 9 is an original collotype realized by André Masson. The artwork is in good conditions, no signature on a yellowed paper. André Masson (1896-1987)was a Frenc...
Category

Mid-20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Black and White

Visage, Surreal Lithograph by Andre Masson
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: 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 Art

Materials

Lithograph

French Abstract Surrealist Vintage Lithograph Mourlot Poster Andre Masson
Located in Surfside, FL
André-Aimé-René Masson (4 January 1896 – 28 October 1987) was a French artist. Masson was born in Balagny-sur-Thérain, Oise, but when he was eight his father's work took the family ...
Category

Mid-20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

MetaMorphoses - Illustrated Book by André Masson, publisher A. Schwarz - 1975
Located in Roma, IT
Edition of 150 copies containing 4 original etchings signed and numbered by the artist. Copies on Velin d 'Arches. Edition: Paris, G. Fall Format: In-folio Pages: 31
Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Paper, Etching

French Abstract Surrealist Vintage Lithograph Mourlot Poster Andre Masson
Located in Surfside, FL
André-Aimé-René Masson (4 January 1896 – 28 October 1987) was a French artist. Masson was born in Balagny-sur-Thérain, Oise, but when he was eight his father's work took the family ...
Category

Mid-20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Water Nymph - Original lithograph (Mourlot - Cramer #60)
Located in Paris, FR
Andre MASSON Water Nymph, 1964 Original lithograph (Mourlot workshop) Printed monogram of the artist in the plate On vellum 32 x 24 cm (c. 13 x 10 in) RE...
Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Abstract Composition - Original Lithograph by André Masson - 1970s
Located in Roma, IT
Abstract Composition is an original color lithograph realized in the half of the XX century by Andre Masson. Hand-signed on the lower right margin. Numbered on the lower left. Edit...
Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Abstract Composition - Lithograph by André Masson - 1970s
Located in Roma, IT
Abstract Composition is an original colored lithograph realized in the half of XX century. The artwork is hand signed on the lower right margin. Numbered on the lower left. Edition...
Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Faune et Femme au Armure - Etching by André Masson - 1966
Located in Roma, IT
Image dimensions: 30x24 cm. Edition of 50 prints, numbered and hand signed by the Artist. Excellent conditions. Insurance may be requested by customers as additional service, contac...
Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Etching

"Caliban, " Original Color Lithograph by Surrealist Andre Masson
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Caliban" is an original color lithograph by Andre Masson. It features abstract marks and designs in brown over a background of pink and yellow. 10" x 7 1/2" art 20 1/2" x 18" fram...
Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Galerie Louis Leiris - Lithograph by André Masson - 1968
Located in Roma, IT
This is an hand signed lithograph by André Masson, with dedication. André Masson was a French artist, well-known as part of the Surrealism. He was a painter but also a sculptor and ...
Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Le Septieme Chant, Portfolio of Surreal etchings by Andre Masson
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Andre Masson Title: Le Septieme Chant Year: 1974 Medium: Portfolio of four Etchings on Arches, signed and numbered on the colophon Edition: 157/175 Paper Size: 15 x 11.5 inc...
Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Etching

Signed Letter by André Masson - 1950 - Surrealism
Located in Roma, IT
L.A.S. (Lettre Autographe Signée) Autograph Letter Signed by A. Masson to N. Jacometti. Paris, 28th March 1950. In back some autograph greetings by Marie and Dominique, Massons’s children. One page two-sided 24.1 x 16 cm. In 8°. In French. Perfect condition with usual folds of paper. Thank-you letter: “Grâce à ta gentillesse tu es à la base d’un...
Category

1950s Surrealist Art

Materials

Paper

Bones And Chrysalids
Located in Roma, IT
Hand Signed. Edition of 60 prints.
Category

1950s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

"Dalila" from "Je Reve" portfolio, Original Color Lithograph by Andre Masson
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Dalila" is an original color lithograph by Andre Masson. This piece, which features an abstract, surreal woman, is from Masson's "Je Reve (I Dream)" por...
Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Amours Legendaires
Located in Roma, IT
Image dimensions: 30x25 cm. Limited edition of 30 prints, numbered and hand signed. Excellent conditions.
Category

1950s Surrealist Art

Materials

Etching

Surrealist art for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Surrealist art available for sale on 1stDibs. Works in this style were very popular during the 21st Century and Contemporary, but contemporary artists have continued to produce works inspired by this movement. If you’re looking to add art created in this style to introduce contrast in an otherwise neutral space in your home, the works available on 1stDibs include elements of blue, orange, purple, red and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Salvador Dalí, Marc Chagall, Joan Miró, and Leonor Fini. Frequently made by artists working with Paint, and Lithograph and other materials, all of these pieces for sale are unique and have attracted attention over the years. Not every interior allows for large Surrealist art, so small editions measuring 1 inches across are also available. Prices for art made by famous or emerging artists can differ depending on medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $1 and tops out at $1,450,000, while the average work sells for $1,426.

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