A large tree trunk with a broken and splintered section, surrounded by fallen branches and debris on a grassy area with green trees in the background.

JEAN MASON

Broken, But Beautiful

September 3 - October 25, 2025 | Gallery Talk with Jean Mason | Saturday, October 18, 2025 | 4 pm

Bruno David is pleased to present Broken, but Beautiful, an exhibition by artist Jean Mason. This is the artist’s second solo exhibition with the gallery.

On May 16, 2025, an EF3 tornado tore through the area right outside of Bruno David Gallery, doing tremendous damage all over St. Louis. It killed several people and changed the lives of thousands. Few places were hit as hard as Forest Park.

Jean Mason spent May 17th and 18th walking all around and through Forest Park, amazed to see the impact the tornado had on hundreds of mature trees. Mason was taken by how beautiful were many of the downed, torn apart, or severely damaged trees. Their once majestic stance had been devastated but much of their majesty remained, even as they lay on the ground, in pieces.

In several of the settings, Mason saw scenes of ruined trees that seemed to portray something entirely different. One was a reddish-brown horse charging ahead, another a wounded soldier at rest against a downed giant, another the inside of a wooden telescope looking at a distant sky, and another a huge hand grasping an eye.

Jean Mason hopes you will find the images in Broken, but Beautiful to be as visually stimulating as he did and that you will ponder the invisible forces that had the power to bring down these massive trees, which had sprouted, literally, from a seed barley larger than the head of a pin. During their years of growth, well over a century in many instances, a gentle wind swayed their branches and rustled their leaves, but on May 16, 2025 that wind turned into a monster that destroyed what it had caressed for so many years.

As Jean Mason observes, “Such is the power and unpredictable force we call Mother Nature.”

Jean Mason, a native of Saint Louis, was born in 1946 and has immersed himself in the art of photography for over 60 years. Mason’s extensive experience with motion picture cameras primarily occurred in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, where he focused on sports photography, significantly influencing the way sporting events are televised today.

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

Broken tree branch with torn bark and splintered wood in a green outdoor setting.

Broken 1 2025 Inkjet print on Hahnemühle Museum Etching paper (350 gsm) 9 1/4 x 9 1/4 inches (23.50 x 23.50 cm)

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Close-up of a broken tree trunk with splintered wood and bark against a clear blue sky.

Broken 3 2025 Inkjet print on Hahnemühle Museum Etching paper (350 gsm) 9 1/4 x 9 1/4 inches (23.50 x 23.50 cm)

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Close-up of a tree with a large, hollow section in the trunk, showing dark, rough, and cracked wood inside, surrounded by textured bark and some green moss.

Broken 4 2025 Inkjet print on Hahnemühle Museum Etching paper (350 gsm) 9 1/4 x 9 1/4 inches (23.50 x 23.50 cm)

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Close-up of broken, weathered tree trunk and splintered wood against a clear blue sky and green foliage.

Broken 5 2025 Inkjet print on Hahnemühle Museum Etching paper (350 gsm) 9 1/4 x 9 1/4 inches (23.50 x 23.50 cm)

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Close-up view of the inside of a hollow, weathered tree trunk looking out towards a bright blue sky with clouds and landscape beyond.

Broken 6 2025 Inkjet print on Hahnemühle Museum Etching paper (350 gsm) 9 1/4 x 9 1/4 inches (23.50 x 23.50 cm)

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Close-up of a fallen tree with a large hollow cavity in the trunk, showing rough textured bark and exposed wood, with green foliage in the background.

Broken 7 2025 Inkjet print on Hahnemühle Museum Etching paper (350 gsm) 9 1/4 x 9 1/4 inches (23.50 x 23.50 cm)

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A large tree with a shaved trunk next to a fallen log in a grassy park with many green trees and a partly cloudy sky.

Broken 8 2025 Inkjet print on Hahnemühle Museum Etching paper (350 gsm) 9 1/4 x 9 1/4 inches (23.50 x 23.50 cm)

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Close-up of a tree trunk with peeling bark and green foliage in the background.

Broken 9 2025 Inkjet print on Hahnemühle Museum Etching paper (350 gsm) 9 1/4 x 9 1/4 inches (23.50 x 23.50 cm)

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A fallen tree trunk on grass in a park with a standing tree, other trees in the background, and a cloudy sky.

Broken 10 2025 Inkjet print on Hahnemühle Museum Etching paper (350 gsm) 9 1/4 x 9 1/4 inches (23.50 x 23.50 cm)

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Upside down tree with roots exposed and broken trunk in a forest

Broken 11 2025 Inkjet print on Hahnemühle Museum Etching paper (350 gsm) 9 1/4 x 9 1/4 inches (23.50 x 23.50 cm)

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A large fallen tree uprooted from the ground resting on the grass.

Broken 12 2025 Inkjet print on Hahnemühle Museum Etching paper (350 gsm) 9 1/4 x 9 1/4 inches (23.50 x 23.50 cm)

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A fallen large tree with exposed roots and broken trunk lying on the ground in a green park with other trees and a fence in the background under a blue sky.

Broken 13 2025 Inkjet print on Hahnemühle Museum Etching paper (350 gsm) 9 1/4 x 9 1/4 inches (23.50 x 23.50 cm)

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fallen tree with its roots and trunk uprooted on a grassy area under a blue sky with some clouds.

Broken 14 2025 Inkjet print on Hahnemühle Museum Etching paper (350 gsm) 9 1/4 x 9 1/4 inches (23.50 x 23.50 cm)

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Close-up of broken and splintered tree branches with exposed wood, set outdoors with green grass and trees in the background.

Broken 15 2025 Inkjet print on Hahnemühle Museum Etching paper (350 gsm) 9 1/4 x 9 1/4 inches (23.50 x 23.50 cm)

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A tall tree trunk with broken branches and jagged wood top, surrounded by green trees under a cloudy sky.

Broken 16 2025 Inkjet print on Hahnemühle Museum Etching paper (350 gsm) 9 1/4 x 9 1/4 inches (23.50 x 23.50 cm)

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A tree trunk that has been broken, with part of the branch snapped off, in a green wooded area.

Broken 17 2025 Inkjet print on Hahnemühle Museum Etching paper (350 gsm) 9 1/4 x 9 1/4 inches (23.50 x 23.50 cm)

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A large tree has split and fallen onto the ground in a wooded area, with broken and splintered wood visible. Surrounding greens and blue sky are also visible.

Broken 2 2025 Inkjet print on Hahnemühle Museum Etching paper (350 gsm) 9 1/4 x 9 1/4 inches (23.50 x 23.50 cm)

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Broken tree stump in front of a stone building with a red roof and blue door, surrounded by green grass and trees.

Broken 18 2025 Inkjet print on Hahnemühle Museum Etching paper (350 gsm) 9 1/4 x 9 1/4 inches (23.50 x 23.50 cm)

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Close-up of tree rings on a piece of wood showing growth patterns.

Broken 19 2025 Inkjet print on Hahnemühle Museum Etching paper (350 gsm) 9 1/4 x 9 1/4 inches (23.50 x 23.50 cm)

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Close-up of a cut tree trunk showing growth rings and cracks in the wood.

Broken 20 2025 Inkjet print on Hahnemühle Museum Etching paper (350 gsm) 9 1/4 x 9 1/4 inches (23.50 x 23.50 cm)

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INSTALLATION VIEWS

Art installation featuring large chopped wood logs arranged on the floor in front of a white gallery wall with framed photographs.

Contemporary art gallery with white walls, displaying framed photographs arranged in a grid and a wood sculpture on the floor.

Gallery wall displaying multiple framed photographs of trees and nature scenes.

Art installation in a gallery featuring a pile of wood logs on the floor and a wall of framed nature photographs.

JEAN MASON

INSTALLATION VIEWS

BRUNO DAVID GALLERY

WINDOW ON FORSYTH

COLUMBIA ARCHIVE GALLERY

COLUMBIA FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTS