Untitled 1938

This etching by André Masson is like a page from a bestiary of the unconscious. I imagine him hunched over a metal plate, scratching away with focused energy to bring these hybrid creatures into being. I wonder what Masson was thinking as he made this? With its nervous lines and unsettling imagery, it reminds me of the Surrealists’ interest in dreams and the darker sides of the human psyche. There’s a bird-like head, maybe a tree trunk too, and a hand with talon-like fingers gripping a scaly arm. Is this a struggle, or an embrace? The lines are so open, spare, and raw—it feels like a world in flux. Masson was a painter, but he also experimented with automatism—a way of creating art without conscious control—which is just so evident here. Artists have always looked to each other, and it’s clear that Masson would have been looking to others. It’s a reminder that art doesn’t happen in a vacuum, it’s all part of an ongoing, sprawling conversation!