L'Espagne assassinée from Solidarité

Identification and Creation

Object Number: 2006.22
People: André Masson, French (Balagne 1896 - 1987 Paris)
Stanley William Hayter, British (London, England 1901 - 1988 Paris, France)
Title: L'Espagne assassinée from Solidarité
Classification: Prints
Work Type: print
Date: 1938
Culture: French
Persistent Link: https://hvrd.art/o/5529

Physical Descriptions

Medium

Etching on white wove paper

Technique

Etching

Dimensions

plate: 8 x 10.9 cm (3 1/8 x 4 5/16 in.)
sheet: 22.4 x 16.1 cm (8 13/16 x 6 5/16 in.)

Inscriptions and Marks

Signed: lower right in graphite pencil: André Masson
inscription: lower margin, graphite pencil, in artist's hand: 144/150 André Masson

State, Edition, Standard Reference Number

Edition: 144/150
Standard Reference Number: Saphire 65

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line: Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Margaret Fisher 1986 Fund
Accession Year: 2006
Object Number: 2006.22
Division: Modern and Contemporary Art
Contact: am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu
Permissions: The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request.

Descriptions

Commentary: André Masson joined the Surrealist movement in 1924 and had numerous breaks and reconciliations with the movement through the 1940s. In 1938 Masson was invited to contribute a print to the album Solidarité that was published to raise money for Spanish orphans during the Civil War. The album contained prints by Miro, Picasso, Tanguy, and others, with the addition of a poem by Paul Eluard. Masson's etching L'Espagne assassinée vividly illustrates the idea of civil war, depicting a chicken (symbolizing Spain) attacking and blinding itself. Masson also incorporated the symbol of the swastika (reversed in the printing process) as an appendage of the bird's leg to equate Franco with German fascism. This print marks the first collaboration between Masson and the British printmaker Stanley William Hayter. Hayter was deeply moved by the Spanish Civil War (as was Masson) and was responsible for organizing the Solidarité album and printing it at his experimental workshop Atelier 17 in Paris. Hayter continued to work with Masson and became an important figure in his printing career. Hayter later relocated Atelier 17 to New York and continued working with experimental printing techniques. Masson made eighteen prints there between 1941 and 1945 while he was in exile. The second print, Rodeo, is representative of this period. Masson saw his first rodeo in 1945 and soon thereafter made this print. The subject matter shows a clear relationship to the bullfight, which Masson had previously depicted during his stay in Spain. He later used a similar composition depicting a slain bull in the album Toro (1951).

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Modern and Contemporary Art at am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu

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