Joseph Nechvatal reviews André Masson dans l’antre de la métamorphose at Galerie Natalie Seroussi, Paris, on view through July 31, 2016.

Nechvatal writes: “An expanded field of subjects pervades the visual lexicon of Surrealism, but Masson is generally considered to have pioneered the automatic drawing technique with an opulence that borders on the decadent. Masson’s graphic automatism was a visual analogy to the écriture automatique, a writing method based on speed, chance, and intuition In doing so, he also revealed a certain amount of reflection and artistic strategy.”