André Masson’s animals are very strange creatures: half beast, half human, half god, half plant, they develop as if they were theatrical characters, in perpetual metamorphosis.

The exhibition explores this dream-like and mysterious world through more than 150 works by the great Surrealist painter – oils on canvass, watercolours, illustrated books, drawings and engravings, including a cabinet dedicated to his erotic bestiary. During his short-lived Cubist period at the end of the First World War, André Masson had already explored the theme of bestiary.

In the works on display here, the animals undergo numerous metamorphoses, chasing or confronting each other in mortal combat. The artist, who spent long periods in Catalonia, is especially known for his lavish interpretations of bull fighting. But he also drew his inspiration from the mythology which fascinated him, tackling the Minotaur and the related legends of Pasiphaë, Daedalus and the labyrinth. This was a way for the multifaceted artist – who was also a designer, engraver, interior decorator and writer – to express his tragic side and his anxiety regarding the brutality and madness of the world.