MARCEL JEAN

(French, 1900 – 1993)
“Défilé Masqué” (“Parade of Masks”), 1973
Gouache and flottage* on masonite
7- 3/4 by 11- 13/16 in. (19.69 by  30 cm)
Signed front upper left;
Signed, tiled and dated in pencil verso

(*The artist’s self-invented technique where he mixed paint with linseed or mineral oil and then manipulated the surface with a sponge.)

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Marcel Jean was born in France and except for the years between 1938 and 1944 when he worked and taught in Budapest, he lived his entire adult life in Paris, until his death in 1994.

Jean joined the Surrealist group of Paris in 1932 and remained an active member for several decades. He exhibited in all of the major International Surrealism exhibitions, in addition to a series of one-person shows, worldwide.

Besides being a painter and maker of objects (his most famous being “Spectre du Gardenia”, on display at the Museum of Modern Art in New York), he was also an accomplished writer. Another of his achievements is the book, considered by many to be the most important study of Surrealism ever written, “The History of Surrealist Painting” (Paris, 1959; New York, Grove Press, 1960).