Provenance:
Galleria Studio Due Ci, Roma
Sammlung Luciano Mussari, Rom / Collection Luciano Mussari, Rome, Italia
Ausstellungen:
Masson: Massaker, Metamorphosen, Mythologien. Kunstmuseum Bern, 1996
André Masson. Un Combat, Musées de la Cour d’Or, Metz, 1998/1999
André Masson nelle collezioni italiane, Palazzo dei Normanni, Sala del Duca di Montalto, Palermo, 2001/2002
André Masson – America, Galerie Cazeau-Beraudière, Paris, 2004
André Masson. Zwischen Welten – Entremondes, Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz, Chemnitz, 2019
Literatur:
Masson: Massaker, Metamorphosen, Mythologien. Ausstellungskatalog / Exhibition catalogue Kunstmuseum Bern, Bern1996, S. / P. 39, (Abb. / rep. No. 32).
André Masson. Un Combat, Ausstellungskatalog / Exhibition catalogue Musées de la Cour d’Or, Metz 1998, S. / P. 39, 181 (Abb. / rep. No. 152).
André Masson nelle collezioni italiane, Ausstellungskatalog / Exhibition catalogue Palazzo dei Normanni, Palermo 2001, S./ P. 21.
André Masson – America, Ausstellungskatalog / Exhibition catalogue Galerie Cazeau-Beraudière, Paris 2004, S. / P. 30
André Masson. Zwischen Welten – Entremondes, Hg. ∙ Ed. by Fréderic Bußmann und ∙ and Diana Kopka, Ausstellungskatalog ∙ Exhibition catalogue Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz, Wienand Verlag, Köln 2019, S. ∙ p. 92.
Zertifikat · Certificate:
Die Authentizität des Gemäldes wurde durch das Comité André Masson bestätigt. · Das Werk wird mit der Nummer 1942*53 in die Fortführung des Oeuvre-Katalogs aufgenommen.
The authenticity is confirmed by the Comité André Masson. The work will be included into the continuation of the catalogue raisonnée with the number 1942*53.
Einführung:
All the paintings from André Masson’s “American period” are characterised by an explosive chromaticity, which powerfully erupts from the dark. The artist had immigrated to the USA after staying on Martinique Island for several months. He settled down in New Preston, Connecticut, New England. According to his own descriptions, the intense colours of nature in the surrounding landscape impressed Masson greatly: „When the Indian summer arrives, in October, the variety of colours is endless. There are the maples, under an enamel blue sky; they go from yellow to violet, from purple to orange, and to vermilion, as if the sky had poured pots of paint over the vegetation.“ (quoted in Dawn Ades: André Masson, Barcelona 1994, p. 23)
In the first months of 1942, André Masson once more felt attracted from the surrealist idea of psychic automatism. In his opinion, he did not turn away from surrealism, but found a new language for his principles which he called ‚triumphant tellurism‘. His mythology of nature, the telluric and cosmic becoming and passing by, is based on these experiences. He said, the paintings of that period were „symbols of blooming and germination. But aggression and destruction have their place there too: the assault of the caterpillars, devouring insects.“ (quoted in Dawn Ades: André Masson, Barcelona 1994, p. 23)
Besides, the works of those years were very influential on the young American artists, especially on Jackson Pollock. „He (Pollock) was almost certainly interested … in the kind of liquefied figuration employed by the Frenchman André Masson, partially through the ‚automatic‘ technique of spilling in and sand … Masson’s looser line, which conveyed a dreamy sexyness that was more disembodied and indirectly evocative, had rhythms that were more adaptable“ (Kirk Varnedoe, Jackson Pollock, exhibition catalogue Museum of Modern Art, New York 1998, p. 37)