The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 13, 2025

Paysage au serpent (Landscape with Snake)

1927

André Masson

(French, 1896–1987)
France
Oil on canvas
Unframed: 65 x 46 cm (25 9/16 x 18 1/8 in.)
Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund 2016.55
Location: 225 German Expressionism & Surrealism

Did You Know?

Although this type of painting was known as "automatic," Masson acknowledged that the process was both subconscious and conscious.

Description

Surrealists such as André Masson believed that reality could be grasped only by unlocking the secrets of the subconscious mind, where prior knowledge that influences emotions and actions is stored. His pioneering technique, known as automatic painting, emphasized spontaneity, thereby allowing subconscious thoughts to emerge during the creative process. Masson worked rapidly when painting Landscape with Snake, applying gestural brushstrokes over a tan background and gouging through wet paint with a pencil. While forms occasionally coalesce to suggest a snake, a bird, or water flowing through a forest, the true subject is the dynamic process of painting.
  • [Galerie Simon, Paris]
    [The Mayor Gallery, London]
    Private collection, Paris
    [Guttklein Gallery, Paris]
  • "New in the Galleries.” Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 56, no. 6 (November/December 2016): Back cover. Reproduced and Mentioned: Back cover archive.org
    Robinson, William. “Acquisition Highlights 2016: Modern Art.” Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 57, no. 2 (March/April 2017): 12. Reproduced: p. 12; Mentioned: p. 7, 12 archive.org
    Masson, Guite, Martin Masson, and Catherine Loewer. André Masson: catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint, 1918-1941. Vaumarcus: ArtAcatos, 2010. Reproduced: P. 371, no. 30
  • Recent Acquisitions. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 17-June 7, 2018).
    The Cleveland Museum of Art (03/17/2018-06/06/2018): "Recent Acquisitions 2014-2017"
  • {{cite web|title=Paysage au serpent (Landscape with Snake)|url=false|author=André Masson|year=1927|access-date=13 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2016.55