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Opportunity to get a complete Portfolio. 15 original litographs in large format each signed in pencil.

This complete and signed portfolio is a rich example of André Masson’s surrealist work and a collector’s gem in post-war European printmaking. offering both historical value and powerful visual storytelling.

15 original lithographs (76 x 56.5 cm) created for Apuleius’ L’Âne d’or, adapted by Joan van Eisnzer. Each lithograph is hand-signed and numbered, printed on Arches wove paper with watermark. Published by Claude Tchou, printed by Bellini et Jobin, Paris. In very good condition.

This rare and expressive portfolio by the French surrealist André Masson (1896–1987) includes 15 original lithographs and colour lithographs created in 1950 as illustrations for L’Âne d’or (The Golden Ass) by Apuleius, adapted by Joan van Eisnzer. Masson's gestural, erotic, and surreal language gives vivid form to Apuleius’ magical and mythological narrative.

Each image reflects Masson’s deep ties to surrealism and automatism, as well as his fascination with transformation, mythology, and the unconscious. 

André Masson was a central figure of the surrealist movement, closely aligned with André Breton and other key artists of the time. His work stands in dialogue with fellow surrealists and avant-garde figures such as Joan Miró, Max Ernst, Yves Tanguy, Salvador Dalí, Paul Delvaux, René Magritte, Wifredo Lam, Roberto Matta, Giorgio de Chirico, Francis Picabia, and Jean Arp.

His expressive and gestural style also finds resonance with the broader developments in 20th-century modernism and abstraction, echoing influences and dialogues with artists like Jean Dubuffet, Wols (Alfred Otto Wolfgang Schulze), Hans Bellmer, Pierre Alechinsky, Karel Appel, Constant Nieuwenhuys, Corneille, Christian Dotremont, Luc Peire, Bram Bogart, Léon Spilliaert, Joseph Beuys, Georg Baselitz, Emil Schumacher, Ernst Wilhelm Nay, A.R. Penck, Markus Lüpertz, Anselm Kiefer, Otto Dix, Max Beckmann, Richard Oelze, Henri Michaux, Jean Fautrier, Jean-Paul Riopelle, Raoul Ubac, Gustave Singier, Alfred Manessier, Hans Hartung, Pierre Soulages, Antoni Tàpies, Lucio Fontana, and Pablo Picasso.

This edition, published by Claude Tchou and printed by Bellini et Jobin in Paris, was limited to only 85 copies. Each lithograph is hand-signed in pencil by André Masson and bears the dry stamp Atelier André Masson. The sheets are printed on high-quality Arches wove paper (with watermark), housed loose in the original portfolio folder, which includes a title sheet, introduction, and colophon.

Condition:
Very good overall condition.
The sheets show minimal signs of age, with barely visible browning and mild creases along some edges and corners.
Occasional faint handling marks consistent with careful preservation.
The prints remain crisp, and colours (where used) are vivid.
Loosely bound in the original publisher’s portfolio folder.

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André Masson (1896–1987) - L’Âne d’or - 15 Original lithographs

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