ANDRÉ MASSON

Provenance:
- Galerie Due Ci, Rome.
- Private collection Western Switzerland, acquired from the above gallery circa 1987.

Literature:
Roger Passeron: André Masson. Catalogue général des sculptures, Turin 1987, p. 119, no. 15, fig. 67 (with ill., other cast).

From 1927 onwards, André Masson began to explore the world of sculpture, making him the second Surrealist, after Max Ernst, to turn his attention to the sculptural form. Over a period of about 60 years (until his death in 1987), Masson’s engagement with sculpture can be beautifully traced through numerous sketches, producing 26 distinct sculptures. 'Sculpture is always on my mind. Therefore, it only required minor external triggers, such as an address, a conversation with a friend, reading a book, or simply some spare time for me to begin working. It was even easier when all I had to do back then was open my sketchbooks to decide on a design’ (Buchholz/Wolbert, 2003, p. 312).

His sculptural forms also overlap thematically with his painterly work, with themes of metamorphosis, classical mythology, and the human condition in all its forms being handled in his sculptures. Masson preferred to use clay, plaster or terracotta as materials for his models. These 26 works were later cast in bronze, in two or three versions, each in small editions. We are delighted to be offering the first part of an almost complete collection of Masson bronzes in our Summer 2023 auction. All bronzes were cast between 1986 and 87 in one of the two Italian foundries Brustolin in Verona or Tesconi in Pietrasanta and were purchased by the collector directly from the Due Ci Gallery in Rome.