Henri Masson was born january 10th 1907 in Spy, Belgium,

He started his art studies when he was 13 at the Athénée Royale, Brussels. Since then, all of his leisure time has been dedicated to drawing and painting. In 1921, he settled in Canada with his mother. Two years later, he joined an engraving studio in Ottawa, and studied at the same time at the Ottawa Art Association and at the Ottawa Art Club.

In 1933, he participated in a first group exhibition in Ottawa. Since 1937, when he had his first solo exhibition at the Picture Loan Society of Toronto, he held numerous solo exhibitions in Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Vancouver. On the international scene, he took part in the New York World Fair (1939), in other world exhibitions, such as Rio de Janeiro Fine Arts Museum (1944), Unesco (1946), the Sao Paolo Biennial (1951), New Delhi (1953) and the Quebec Pavilion, Osaka (1970).

Henri Masson became a member in 1941 of the Canadian Society of Painters in Watercolour, Société des arts graphiques and of the Canadian Group of Painters. He was President of the Conference des artistes canadiens in Ottawa, in 1945. He was awarded an honoris causa doctorate from the Assumption College, Windsor, Ontario, in 1955.

The National Film Board made an important mention of him in its documentary, Les Peintres du Québec.

Henri Masson died in 1996 at the age of 89 years old.