Andre Masson was born in Balagny-sur-Thérain, France, on January 4th, 1896.  He began his study of art at the age of eleven in Brussels and later he studied in Paris. His early works display an interest in cubism. He later became associated with surrealism, and he was one of the most enthusiastic employers of automatic drawing.  By the end of the 1920s, he left the surrealist movement and turned instead to a more structured style, often producing works with a violent or erotic theme.  He associated once more with the surrealists at the end of the 1930s.  Under the German occupation of France during World War II, his work was condemned by the Nazis as degenerate and he moved to New York.  Living in  Connecticut his work became an important influence on American abstract expressionists, such as Jackson Pollock. Following the war, he returned to France and settled in Aix-en-Provence.  He died in Paris in 1987.