L'œuf de verre

Painted in 1939, André Masson’s L’oeuf de verre is an imaginative, Surrealist portrait, invoking elemental and mythological imagery to create a picture rich in symbolism and allusions. The work is a variation on the artist’s 1938 painting Le château de carte, and portrays Masson’s young sons, Luis and Diego, playing together at a simple round table, a house of cards, drawing utensils, and a set of marbles between them. These were all frequent pastimes for the children while the family were living in Lyons-la-Forêt in the years prior to the outbreak of the Second World War. In L’oeuf de verre, the two boys are portrayed with props that appear emblematic of their individual traits and personalities – Diego, named for the great Spanish painter Velázquez, was lively and mischievous, with dark hair and deep, navy blue eyes. Here, he is cast in the role of the bull, shown in the process of pulling a mask over his features, which allows him to transform.
In contrast, his younger brother Luis, named in homage to the poet Góngora, was a sunny blond, boasting eyes of a lighter, brighter shade of blue and a more sensitive temperament. In L’oeuf de verre, he clutches an enormous sunflower in one hand, its petals bursting with colour and life, their large expanse obscuring his face. Only three and four at the time of the painting’s creation, Masson captures a profound, poetic vision of his two boys, casting them in a playful, yet insightful, moment that celebrates their childhood games and innocence. The titular glass egg, which appears in several of Masson’s important works from this period, including Paysage métaphysique (1937) and L’homme emblématique (1939), suggests a fragile, protective barrier around the children, perhaps shielding them from their surroundings and the precarious historic moment Masson and his family found themselves in. Acquired directly from the artist in 1939-1940, L’oeuf de verre has remained in the same private, family collection ever since.