Landscape with Rocks 1923

Andre Masson’s ‘Landscape with Rocks’ has been built up with these ochre and umber tones. The painting breathes and pulsates, everything is kind of alive, touched by a kind of vitalism. I'm thinking about Masson here, alone in his studio with his brushes, and the canvas... maybe he starts with a light wash, then scrapes it away, before adding another layer. Then maybe he makes a few marks, erases them, then adds more, working over and over the surface with determination. The more I look the more I get a sense of the artist's hand, trying to grasp something, a feeling or an idea, or a memory. I’m always thinking about all the other paintings, all the other artists who looked at nature and tried to capture it, like Cezanne or Picasso, and how Masson is continuing that conversation. Painting is never over.