Artwork from the JSP Estate/Private Collection
Nationality
French
Artist Dates
1896-1987
Title of Work
Moon
Preview
Date of Work
1938
Medium
Color lithograph
Edition #
Published in Verve Art Publication, Paris
Signature
Lower left
Height
13 7/8"
Width
10 1/8"
Collection/Provenance
Art & Design Study Collection: James Smith Pierce Collection
Status
On Display
Location
Skalicky Tech Incubator 2nd Floor Gallery
Artist Bio
André Masson was a French artist born in 1896. Masson studied at Académie royale des beaux-arts and the École des arts décoratifs in Brussels at the young age of 11. Drawing on inspiration from nature from his childhood, Masson is best known for adding his Surrealist flair of altered states of consciousness and creativity to his works. Works by André Masson can be found in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and several other collections internationally.
During the Second World War, Masson spent several years in exile in the United States, where he had a solo show at the Baltimore Museum of Art in 1941, as well as exhibiting in New York and elsewhere. The notable Art critic Clement Greenberg (1909-1994) felt that Masson and his art had considerable influence on the emergence of Abstract Expressionism in New York.
Additional Information
Masson’s works Sun and Moon were both created for and featured in an edition of Verve Magazine, along with several other cosmologically themed pieces by other artists.
This piece was created during Masson’s rejoining of the Surrealists in 1936. Masson had initially left the group in 1929 before rejoining in 1936, he would eventually fully sever himself from the group in 1943.
Additional lithography related to the work on verso.
Tag: JSP Estate Collection
Work included in 'School of Paris' exhibition, 2019. Included in the 2023 exhibition, Beyond the Horizon.
Condition
Very good, tape on verso in corners