Updated October 2026 · ranked by our popularity score (searches, visits and orders for each work) · 273 works by André Masson in our catalogue
Summary
According to this ranking, Goethe or the metamorphosis of plants (1940) is the most famous painting by André Masson. It is followed by Massacre (1932) and Children of the Islands (1926). This list draws on the 273 works by André Masson in the catalogue and records the 100 most famous, with date, holding museum and description for each entry.
The canvas titled Goethe or the metamorphosis of plants was brought into being by the hand of André Masson. In 1940, the artist captured a vision of organic change, translating the concept of botanical transformation into a visual language. This work exists now within the walls of The Israel Museum in Jerusalem, Israel.
Portraits
Portraits
In "Will-o'-the-Wisp" by André Masson, a young girl in traditional folk attire occupies the center of a vertically oriented frame. She is a still point amidst a geometry of wood and light. The monochromatic palette strips the scene to essential shades of grey, black, and white. This lack of hue focuses the eye on the sharp lines of the window frames and the long, receding planks of the floorboards. The…
Paysages
Gradiva1939
12
Entanglement1941
13
The Capuchin monastery in Ceret1919
14
Massacre1931
15
Sleep in the tower1938
16
The metamorphosis of the lovers1938
17
The construction of Daedalus1940
18
The meals1922
19
Portrait of Roland Tual1921
20
Triangle Ruler (L'equerre)1923 · Israel Museum
21
Torso1926
22
Automatic drawing 041926
23
Automatic drawing 051925
24
Automatic Drawing1926
25
Automatic drawing 031925
26
Automatic drawing 021926
27
The meals1923
28
Wing1925
29
Cemetery1924
30
Players1923
31
The cardinal points1924
32
The man with the orange1923
33
Man1924
34
Man holding a rope1924
35
Woman holding a bird1924
36
Armour1925
37
The Constellations1925
38
Two naked1924
39
Vents1924
40
Anatomy of my world, birth1938
41
Characters1934
42
Melusine1937
43
Bullfighting1937
44
Baudelaire1943
45
Goethe1939
46
Through the Looking Glass1941
47
Holderlin s poetry1940
48
Portrait of Blake1939
49
Portrait of André Breton1941
50
The assassination of the PLC1941
51
The Witch1942
52
Earth1939
53
Melusine1942
54
Portrait of George Duthuit1945
55
Self-Portrait1944
56
Pasiphae1945
57
The Sibyl, portrait of Madame Masson1944
58
In the Forest1944
59
Minors1945
60
Resistance1944
61
Reader with Red Book1950
62
The tree and the nest1964
63
Meditation Loth1969
64
Nereid1968
65
Study for a Self Portrait1968
66
The maid1973
67
Titan1971
68
Portrait of the Artist1972
69
Bad night1970
70
Woman attacked by birds1973
71
Queen Zenobia1971
72
Presentation1971
73
The bird market1970
74
Winged Idol1970
75
The fairy of the ruins1970
76
Return of the Crusades1974
77
Fruits devastating1975
78
Disguised leg1975
79
Guitar and Profile1924 · Tate Modern
80
Portrait of Curt Valentin1946
81
Kitchen maids
82
Leda1947
83
Childbirth1955 · Tate Modern
84
Prisoner of the Mirror: Transfiguring Your Death1939 · MOMA - Museum of Modern Art
85
Fragments of gardens tantalum
86
Around fat
87
One on the other
88
Traveller's night
89
Ibdes de Aragon
90
Composition at the apple1922
91
Women1921
92
The Glades1922
93
The Figure1924 · Art Institute of Chicago
94
Automatic Drawing1927
95
Tribute to Saint-Pol Roux1925
96
Automatic drawing 061925
97
Automatic Drawing1925
98
Automatic drawing 041925
99
Automatic drawing 021925
100
Automatic drawing 031926 · Statens Museum For Kunst
The four subjects most frequently represented among these works, each with its best-known example.
The 6 museums that hold the most of the paintings on this page.
| Museum | City | Works by André Masson | Paintings from this list |
|---|---|---|---|
 Tate Modern |
London | 4 | Guitar and Profile, Childbirth |
 MOMA - Museum of Modern Art |
New York City | 5 | Prisoner of the Mirror: Transfiguring Your Death |
 Israel Museum |
Jerusalem | 2 | Triangle Ruler (L'equerre) |
 The Phillips Collection |
Washington, D.C. | 1 | Will-o'-the-Wisp |
 Art Institute of Chicago |
Chicago | 1 | The Figure |
 Statens Museum For Kunst |
Copenhagen | 1 | Automatic drawing 03 |
Select a decade to display its principal painting.
The canvas titled Goethe or the metamorphosis of plants was brought into being by the hand of André Masson. In 1940, the artist captured a vision of organic change, translating the concept of botanical transformation into a visual language. This work exists now within the walls of The Israel Museum in Jerusalem, Israel.
Goethe or the metamorphosis of plants (1940). The following entries are Massacre (1932) and Children of the Islands (1926).
44 years: André Masson was born in 1896 and Goethe or the metamorphosis of plants is dated 1940.
Goethe or the metamorphosis of plants, Massacre, Children of the Islands, Portrait of Emily Brontë, Portrait of the poet Kleist, Meditation on an Oak Leaf, Will-o'-the-Wisp, Landscape with Rocks, The horses of Diomedes and Seeded Earth. The list above records the date and holding museum of each.
The catalogue records 273 works by André Masson, dated between 1919 and 1975.
Principally in Tate Modern (London), MOMA - Museum of Modern Art (New York City) and Israel Museum (Jerusalem). The museum table above gives the full distribution.
In 1920s: 36 of the 100 works listed on this page are dated to that period, including Children of the Islands.
The earliest dated work listed here is The Capuchin monastery in Ceret (1919); the latest is Fruits devastating (1975).
Portraits (10), Arts (10) and Violence (4), out of the 100 works listed on this page.
Surrealism, as documented by the works on this page.
Guitar and Profile and Childbirth are among the 2 works on this page in the collection of the Tate Modern, London.
