The Workshop of Daedalus 1939

Andre Masson made this painting, 'The Workshop of Daedalus' with a kind of urgency using thin paint and a fiery palette. It's like he's trying to capture the heat of creation itself. The surface has this raw, almost feverish quality. Look at the way he's layered the reds and blacks, it's not about blending, but about letting each stroke vibrate against the next. There's a skull-like form in the foreground which seems to spill a river of flame across the picture plane. It's rendered with such energy, it feels like a mark of the artist's own existential struggle being played out right there on the canvas. Masson’s work reminds me of Arshile Gorky; both artists channel the subconscious with raw, gestural marks. Ultimately, this painting invites us to embrace the messy, unresolved nature of art itself.