Accession Number
2012/2.175

Title
Untitled

Artist(s)
André Masson

Artist Nationality
French (culture or style)

Object Creation Date
circa 1960

Medium & Support
ink on laid paper

Dimensions
18 1/2 in x 15 3/4 in (46.99 cm x 40.01 cm)

Credit Line
Gift of Professor Walter M. and Nesta R. Spink

Label copy
André Masson
France, 1896–1987
Untitled
20th century
Pen and ink on laid paper
Gift of Professor Walter M. and Nesta R. Spink, 2012/2.175

Subject matter
Rendered using the "automatic" (e.g. unplanned) technique that Masson pioneered in the 1920s, this black ink drawing is entirely abstract, with a series of lines and shapes that evoke a sense of motion from the lower left to the upper right of the composition. Long parallel lines draw the eye along a diagonal, from the lower left to the upper right corner, reinforcing this sense of movement. The swirling abstracted forms that surround these lines, as well as the very fine splatterings of ink that decorate the composition, lend this image an energy and dynamism that parallels the direct and freeform method that Masson employed to produce it.

Physical Description
An abstract drawing with lines, swirling forms, and ink splatterings.

Primary Object Classification
Drawing

Collection Area
Western

Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.

Keywords
Surrealist
abstraction
freehand drawing (technique)
ink
line drawings (drawings)