AUCTIONS

A set from André Aleth Masson’s (1919-2009) Estate

A ceramist, sculptor, painter and engraver, André Aleth Masson began by studying at the École des Beaux-Arts in Rennes, then in Paris.

In 1947, he enrolled at the École Professionnelle de Céramique in Fontcarrade, near Montpellier. From 1950 onwards, he took part in the Salons des Indépendants and in 1954 in the Salons des Artistes Décorateurs (of which he was a member until 1980). His early career was marked by three solo exhibitions in 1952, 1955 and 1961 at the MAI gallery. It was there that he met André Borderie, with whom he became close friends. Together they produced several large architectural panels (André Borderie was responsible for the composition, while André Aleth Masson was in charge of the technical execution).

In the 1970s, Masson also created large-scale works as part of 1% commissions and through the “Living Wall” movement, which campaigned for the integration of art into architecture. The ceramist gave way to the colourist painter in the mid-1980s: painted terracotta, cut-out and coloured wood, acrylic canvas, polystyrene or gouache on paper became his preferred field of expression. At the end of his career, etching on cardboard would be his ultimate artistic language.

In the twenty or so works on display, coming from his studio and his family, all the major creative periods are evoked, giving the measure of his inventiveness. From the cat vase, his emblematic model created in the 1950s, to one of his flying cows (seen on the ceiling of his studio in a photo taken by one of his sons in 1988), there is also a fireplace ashtray, a coffee table dating from 1970, a panel or models in polystyrene and acrylic projects. The most personal object in this estate is an imprint of his thumb in clay, which has become a sculpture.

All these works, which were stored in his studio and his house in Saint-Malo, were kept by his 6 children, who are now parting with them as part of this sale.