1903-1911 - Family moves to Lille

1912 - Studies fresco under Paul Baudouin at the Ecole des Beaux Arts

1914 - Travels to Italy and Switzerland

1915-1917 - Serves as an infantry soldier in the First World War and is involved in some of the worst fighting. In April 1917 is seriously wounded in the battle of the Somme

1918 - Incarcerated in a mental hospital and discharged in 1918, just before the armistice

1919 - Starts to paint again - settles for a time in Ceret

1920 - Returns to Paris with Odette Cabale, now his wife. Makes friends with artists and writers over the next few years

1921-1922 - Moves to 45 rue Blomet - Miro has adjoining studio

1922-1923 - Paints landscapes - rue Blomet becomes centre of a group of young artists including Leiris, Salacrou, Limbour and Artaud.

1924 - First one man show at Galerie Simon (owned by Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler). Meets Andre Breton

1925 - Work included in an exhibition at Galerie Pierre

1926 - Galerie Surrealiste opens, including works by Masson. Spends time at Sanary, developing sand paintings

1927 - Rents house in Avenue de Segur, Paris. Realises first sculpture in plaster with advice from Giacometti

1928 - Starts to distance himself from Surrealism

1929 - Rupture with Breton

1930 - Exhibitions at Surindependents and Gallery of Living Art (New York)

1931 - Much of the year spent at Grasse

1932 - Meets Matisse

1933 - Designs sets and costumes for Les Presages

1934 - Leaves for Spain with Rose Makles. Settles at Tossa de Mar. Exhibition at Galerie Simon. Marries Rose in December

1935 - Birth of Diego Masson in June

1936 - Renewal of friendship with Andre Breton. Exhibits fourteen works at the International Surrealist Exhibition in London, June 1936. Birth of Luis Masson. Return to France on outbreak of Spanish Civil War

1937 - Beginning of second "surrealist period"

1938 - Participates in Exposition Internationale du Surrealisme in Paris, January

1939 - Outbreak of war

1940 - Included in International Surrealist Exhibition, Mexico City, January-February.

1941 - Receives US visa and leaves for America in March. Five drawings destroyed by US customs on grounds of obscenity. Lives in New York until June when he moves to Connecticut

1942 - Included in "First Papers of Surrealism" exhibition organised by Breton and Duchamp

1943 - Curt Valentin acts as Masson's dealer in New York

1944 - Included in several group exhibitions

1945 - Exhibitions at Whitney and Bucholz galleries. Return to France to live with Rose's sister, Simon

1946 - One-man exhibition at Palais des Beaux Arts

1947 - Family settles at Le Tholonet, near Aix-en-Provence

1948 - Exhibition at Galerie Louise Leiris

1949 - Exhibition "Terre Erotique" at Place Vendome is closed by the police

1950 - Exhibition "Andre Masson and Alberto Giacometti" at Kunsthalle, Basel

1951 - Visits Venice

1952 - Writes "Monet le Fondateur" in Verve

1953 - Moves to "Les Cigales", Tholonet. Travels to Rome

1954 - Exhibits six works at Venice Biennale. Wins Grand Prix National for Painting

1955 - Retrospective at Leicester Galleries, London.

1956 - Exhibition at Galerie Lucien Blanc. Publication of Metamorphose de l'artiste

1956-1957 - Spends winter in Paris

1957 - Radio interviews

1958 - Retrospective of engravings by L'Albertina, Vienna. One-man show at Saidenberg Gallery, New York. More than 30 works at Venice Biennale. Retrospective at Marlborough Fine Art, London. Exhibition at Edgardo Acosto Gallery, Beverly Hills

1959 - Retrospective at Galleria Bussola, Turin

1960 - One-man show at Svensk-Franska Gallery, Stockholm. Included in International Surrealist Exhibition, New York

1961 - Arrested for activity relating to struggle for Algerian independence

1962 - One-man show at Marlborough Fine Art, London

1963 - Moves Paris home to 56 Rue de Sevigne. Exhibition at Galerie Gerard Cramer, Geneva.

1964 - Retrospective at Akademie der Kunst, Berlin

1965 - Restrospective at Musee National d'Art Moderne, Paris. Paints the ceiling of the Odeon (Theatre de France)

1967 - Drawings at the Musee National d'Art Moderne

1968 - Exhibition at Galerie Louise Leiris

1970 - One-man show at Galleria Schwarz, Milan

1973 - Exhibition of recent paintings at Galerie Louise Leiris

1976 - Retrospective at MOMA, New York then to Houston and Paris. First retrospective of drawings at Musee d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris. Publication of the anthology Le rebelle du surrealisme

1978 - Works on drawings and prints. Stops painting

1979 - Drawing in Aix. Restarts painting

1980 - No longer able to walk. Stops painting

1986 - Death of Rose, 13 August. Visits Rome

1987 - Retrospective at Hayward Gallery, London.
Dies October 28 in Paris

1995 - "Andre Masson"
April - May 1995
The Mayor Gallery
London,

1996 - "Andre Masson Work of the Forties"
12 September - 19 October 1996
Kouros Gallery
23 East 73d Street, New York, New York 10021

1996 - "Andre Masson"
13 September - 30 November 1996
Galerie Guy Baertschi
2, Rue Etienne-Dumont, CH-1024, Geneve

(main chronology based on "Masson", Dawn Ades)