Galerie Simon, Paris
Lucien Lefebvre-Foinet, Paris
Galerie de Beaune, Paris
Jacques Doucet, Paris
Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., New York & Warrenton, Virginia (and sold: Parke-Bernet Galleries, Inc., New York, March 22, 1945, lot 128)
Buchholz Gallery (Curt Valentin), New York (acquired at the above sale)
Saidenberg Gallery, New York (acquired by 1958)
Frances Leventritt, New York
Thence by descent

Richmond, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts & Philadelphia, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Exhibitions of the Collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., 1941, no. 109, illustrated in the catalogue
New York, Buchholz Gallery, André Masson: Examples of his Work from 1922-1945, 1947, no. 4, illustrated in the catalogue

Michel Leiris & Georges Limbour, André Masson et son univers, Geneva & Paris, 1947, illustrated p. 192
Frances Fielding Lewis Beatty, André Masson and the Imagery of Surrealism (PhD dissertation), Columbia University, no. 75, illustrated p. 460 
Clark Poling, André Masson and the Surrealist Self, New Haven & London, no. 8, illustrated p. 21
Guite Masson, Martin Masson & Catherine Loewer, André Masson, Catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint, vol. I, Vaumarcus, 2010, no. 1923*23, illustrated in color p. 137

The work is in excellent original condition. Canvas is not lined. There surface is slightly dirty and there are some minor scattered pindot stains. Under UV light, some spots of varnish/surface dirt fluoresce but no inpainting is visible.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The mid-twenties was a transitional phase in Masson's artistic career, but this period was also its artistic apogee. The works of this time are in effect wonderful hybrids; the content of works is largely Surrealist, whilst the architecture and compositional techniques remained rooted in Cubism. By the mid-twenties, Masson had begun to reject the strictures of Cubism, and the representational elements of Les Masques illustrate an interest in many of the themes at the center of the Surrealism of the 1920s. The constant metamorphosis of human limbs and a fascination with deformity were principle traits of the movement at this early stage as Surrealist artist's sought to plumb the dark recesses of the human psyche following the nightmare of World War I.

Picasso, upon viewing Masson's work from this period, sensed this shift in allegiance, and chided Masson for "setting us [the Cubists] up only to tear us apart." Yet while Masson rejected the purist notions of Cubism and shared many of Surrealism's philosophical concerns, as an artist he remained entranced by Cubist forms, as is evident in the prismatic lines and shallow planes of this work. Furthermore, he continued to explore the theme of sensory perception, which analytic Cubism had focused on. In Les Masques, the figure's are engaged in a variety of sensory activities: smelling smoke, sipping drinks, listening to the lute being plucked at center, and Masson constructs the painting in such a way that this experience is amplified for the viewer, much like Jean Metzinger in his early Cubist work Le Goûter (see fig. 1). It is an artistic irony that Masson's equivocal stance was to produce his most important work, and Les Masques exemplifies the fusion of the energy and imagery of Surrealism with the composition✃al play on forms of Cubism which 𒁏characterizes Masson's best work.