Regarded as a bridge between Surrealism and Abstract Expressionism, Masson was born on January 4, 1896, in Balagny-sur-Thérain, Oise, France. Later he moved with his family to Brussels and studied at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts, under the guidance of Constant Montald and later studied in Paris at Ecolé des Beaux-Arts (1912-1914).