Victor Masson
French, 1849-1917
Follow
Victor Masson, born on May 10, 1849 in Pont-à-Mousson (Meurthe) and died on July 17, 1917 in Toulon (Var), was a French industrialist, painter and illustrator.
Primarily a wood and coal merchant, in the late 1860s he joined his father's business, Masson Frères, which he ran with other family members before selling in 1913. Parallel to this profession, he devoted his free time to a dilettante, unambitious artistic practice, creating drawings and paintings that he neither sold nor exhibited. In fact, Victor Masson remained a discreet artist throughout his life. He was the subject of very few writings, and received no distinctions apart from a few awards during his artistic training in Metz.
This artistic practice was nonetheless enduring - Victor Masson practiced it from childhood until his death - and fertile: it gave rise to several hundred drawings. With a few exceptions, most of these have remained in the private collections of his descendants.
He was the uncle of writer Pierre-Maurice Masson (1879-1916) and the grandfather of philanthropist Suzanne Masson (1915-1991).