André Masson (1896-1987)

André Masson, the French painter, sculptor, illustrator, designer and writer, first became known for his association with the Surrealist movement between 1924-1929. The 1930s saw Masson experimenting with chance effects and themes of germination, metamorphosis, battles and massacres, all with an emphasis on violence and eroticism. Throughout the 1930s Masson's work tended towards loose, swirling conglomerations of dreamlike images rendered in a semi-automatic style of drawing and painting. Through his love of Nietzsche and Heraclitus, Masson sought to explore the enduring power of the ancient myths by a kind of psychological exorcising of his own personal demons through his art. Troubled for much of this decade, Masson's art is increasingly violent and tormented. In Les chevaux the forms are contorted, creating a frenzy of tense and uncontrolled movement reflecting the artist’s inner unrest during this period.