André Masson was one of the first to translate “stream-of-consciousness” writing to the canvas.Robilant and Voena’s St. Moritz gallery in Switzerland is currently presenting a selection of works by the French painter (1896-1987) with visualizations of “écriture automatique” and more.The exhibition aims to “reinforce André Masson’s position as a unique artist, whose extraordinary and turbulent imagination resulted in an incredibly diverse output of works, which are permeated with poetry and symbolic content.”The show presents a selection of works from different periods in Masson’s career. For one, the transition period between Cubism and Surrealism, with the colorful “Femme Surprise” of 1932, and “Le Faucheur,” of 1934, Masson painted in trance-like states. Also on view are later works that speak of his interest for psychoanalytical symbolism to address traumas and instincts. (Masson was the brother-in-law of French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan and also deeply involved with Georges Battaille’s Surrealist publications). Masson’s eerie forests and landscapes seem charged with a sense of horror and uneasiness, such as in “Les Vieux Platanes,” 1949, and “Désir,”1959. Works such as “Fécondité,” 1956, “Les Predreaux,”1952, or “Les Trois Colonnes,” 1953, convey his sensitivity to the painterly translation of light in the vein of Impressionism, while “La Foudre,” 1956, is representative for Masson’s interest in Eastern Asian calligraphy, philosophy, and Zen Buddhism.Like many artists of his generation, Masson’s youth was overshadowed by conflict. In 1912 he moved to Paris to study Fine Art. Two years later, World War I broke out and Masson enlisted as a soldier. In 1917, he was severely wounded. This, and the horrors of the war, left an enduring mark on him.After having returned to his life as an artist in Paris in the 1920s, Masson was initially interested in Cubism, before becoming involved with the newly forming Surrealist movement, especially its interest in the unconscious and subconscious, the suppressed and irrational. Masson began experimenting with new techniques of drawing and painting that would allow him to unlock these inner forces.Following the principles of écriture automatique, he began to create “automatic drawings” – treating his hands as entities of their own, suppressing any attempt to willfully master their movement, and rather following their abstract actions as an observer. This approach, as well as his experiments with unconventional materials such as sand or glue in painting, made Masson one of the forefathers of Abstract Expressionism and would later have a deep impact for example on American painter Jackson Pollock.“André Masson” runs through August 6, 2016 at Robilant et Voena St. Moritz, Switzerland. Click here for more information.See more images and exhibition views in the slideshow.
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