Details

Provenance

Galerie Simon, Paris Private Collection (acquired circa 1940s) Thence by descent to the present owner Condition Excellent condition. Surface is slightly dirty. Canvas is unlined. Surface impasto very well maintained. Under UV light: no inpainting apparent. In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion. NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE. Catalogue Note Pommes was painted before Surrealism had taken full root in Masson's art.  In 1921, he had moved to a studio on rue Blomet, in Paris's Left Bank.  His friend, the poet Max Jacob, introduced him to his neighbor, the sculptor Pablo Gargallo, who in turn introduced him to his close friend and frequent visitor, Joan Miró.  Masson and Miró became fast friends, despite their different personalities.  "(Masson) led a disorderly... existence, frequented anarchist circles, read Nietzsche and poetry with exultation, and threw himself into his painting, his friendships and his drinking habits with the same frenzy... His studio was as famous for its indescribable disorder as was Miró's for its painstaking, almost alarming tidiness"(J. Dupin, Miró, Barcelona, 1993, p. 85). André Masson's primary contact with the rest of the nascent Surrealist group came at the time of his first solo exhibition, organized by Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler at his Galerie Simon in 1923. The works he showed, principally post-Cubist compositions and mysterious forest scenes, caught the attention of André Breton, who acquired a painting for his own collection.  Following the official birth of the movement with Breton's 1924 Manifesto, Masson became increasingly influenced by the ideas being developed by the Surrealists, especially 'automatism'. This term had been appropriated by the group and was used to describe techniques of spontaneous writing, drawing and painting. While the theory led certain artists, such as Max Ernst, to invent techniques which employed chance, Masson preferred to be inspired by the unconscious, executing 'automatic' drawings while in a state of intoxication or hallucination.

Catalog summary

André Masson Pommes Signed andré Masson (lower right) Oil on canvas 25 5/8 by 21 1/4 in. 65 by 54 cm Provenance Galerie Simon, Paris Private Collection (acquired circa 1940s) Thence by descent to the present owner Condition Excellent condition. Surface is slightly dirty. Canvas is unlined. Surface impasto very well maintained. Under UV light: no inpainting apparent. In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion. NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE. Catalogue Note Pommes was painted before Surrealism had taken full root in Masson's art.  In 1921, he had moved to a studio on rue Blomet, in Paris's Left Bank.  His friend, the poet Max Jacob, introduced him to his neighbor, the sculptor Pablo Gargallo, who in turn introduced him to his close friend and frequent visitor, Joan Miró.  Masson and Miró became fast friends, despite their different personalities.  "(Masson) led a disorderly... existence, frequented anarchist circles, read Nietzsche and poetry with exultation, and threw himself into his painting, his friendships and his drinking habits with the same frenzy... His studio was as famous for its indescribable disorder as was Miró's for its painstaking, almost alarming tidiness"(J. Dupin, Miró, Barcelona, 1993, p. 85). André Masson's primary contact with the rest of the nascent Surrealist group came at the time of his first solo exhibition, organized by Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler at his Galerie Simon in 1923. The works he showed, principally post-Cubist compositions and mysterious forest scenes, caught the attention of André Breton, who acquired a painting for his own collection.  Following the official birth of the movement with Breton's 1924 Manifesto, Masson became increasingly influenced by the ideas being developed by the Surrealists, especially 'automatism'. This term had been appropriated by the group and was used to describe techniques of spontaneous writing, drawing and painting. While the theory led certain artists, such as Max Ernst, to invent techniques which employed chance, Masson preferred to be inspired by the unconscious, executing 'automatic' drawings while in a state of intoxication or hallucination.