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Francis Picabia (: born Francis-Marie Martinez de Picabia; 22January 1879 – 30November 1953) was a French
avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...
painter, writer,
filmmaker Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...
, magazine publisher, poet, and typographist closely associated with
Dada Dada () or Dadaism was an anti-establishment art movement that developed in 1915 in the context of the Great War and the earlier anti-art movement. Early centers for dadaism included Zürich and Berlin. Within a few years, the movement had s ...
. When considering the many styles that Picabia painted in, observers have described his career as "shape-shifting" or "kaleidoscopic". After experimenting with
Impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...
and
Pointillism Pointillism (, ) is a technique of painting in which small, distinct dots of color are applied in patterns to form an image. Georges Seurat and Paul Signac developed the technique in 1886, branching from Impressionism. The term "Pointillism ...
, Picabia became associated with
Cubism Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement which began in Paris. It revolutionized painting and the visual arts, and sparked artistic innovations in music, ballet, literature, and architecture. Cubist subjects are analyzed, broke ...
. His highly abstract planar compositions were colourful and rich in contrasts. He was one of the early major figures of the
Dada Dada () or Dadaism was an anti-establishment art movement that developed in 1915 in the context of the Great War and the earlier anti-art movement. Early centers for dadaism included Zürich and Berlin. Within a few years, the movement had s ...
movement in the United States and in France before denouncing it in 1921. He was later briefly associated with
Surrealism Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...
, but would soon turn his back on the art establishment.


Early life

Francis Picabia was born in Paris of a French mother and a Cuban father of Spanish descent. Some sources would have his father as of aristocratic Spanish descent, whereas others consider him of non-aristocratic Spanish descent, from the region of Galicia. His birth year of 1879 coincided with the Spanish-Cuban Little War; and though Picabia was born in Paris, his father was involved in Cuban-French relations and would later serve as attaché at the Cuban legation in Paris (see the Treaty of 1898). The family ties to Cuba would be important in Picabia's life later on. The family was affluent, and both parents encouraged Picabia to pursue an art career. Picabia's mother died of
tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...
when he was five, and he was raised by his father. Picabia's artistic ability was apparent from his youth. In 1894, he copied a collection of Spanish paintings that belonged to his grandfather, switching the copies for the originals and selling the originals to finance his stamp collection. A lifelong philanderer, Picabia eloped to Switzerland in 1897 with one of his mistresses, causing his father to briefly cut off contact with him.


Art career

During the late 1890s, Picabia began to study art under
Fernand Cormon Fernand Cormon (; 24 December 1845 – 20 March 1924) was a French painter born in Paris. He became a pupil of Alexandre Cabanel, Eugène Fromentin, and Jean-François Portaels, and one of the leading historical painters of modern France. Biog ...
and others at École des Arts Decoratifs, Cormon's academy at 104 boulevard de Clichy, where
Van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade, he created approximately 2,100 artwork ...
and
Toulouse-Lautrec ''Comte'' Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec-Monfa (24 November 1864 – 9 September 1901), known as Toulouse-Lautrec (), was a French painter, printmaker, draughtsman, caricaturist, and illustrator whose immersion in the colourful an ...
had also studied. He studied under Fernand Cormon, Ferdinand Humbert, and Albert Charles Wallet for two years. From the age of twenty, Picabia lived by painting. Subsequently, he inherited money from his mother, leaving him far wealthier than most of his contemporaries in the art world. He began buying at least one new sports car each year, and ultimately owned 127 over the course of his life. Early in his career, from 1903 to 1908, Picabia was influenced by the
Impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...
paintings of
Alfred Sisley Alfred Sisley (; ; 30 October 1839 – 29 January 1899) was an Impressionist landscape painter who was born and spent most of his life in France, but retained British citizenship. He was the most consistent of the Impressionists in his dedic ...
. His subject matter included small churches, lanes, roofs of Paris, riverbanks, wash houses, and barges. This led critics to question his originality, saying that he copied Sisley, that his cathedrals looked like
Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, ; ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of Impressionism painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During his ...
cathedrals, or that he painted like Signac. He soon came to feel he was working in an outdated style and began to look for a new approach. From 1909, his style changed as he came under the influence of a group of artists soon to be called
Cubists Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement which began in Paris. It revolutionized painting and the visual arts, and sparked artistic innovations in music, ballet, literature, and architecture. Cubist subjects are analyzed, broke ...
. These artists would later form the
Golden Section In mathematics, two quantities are in the golden ratio if their ratio is the same as the ratio of their summation, sum to the larger of the two quantities. Expressed algebraically, for quantities and with , is in a golden ratio to if \fr ...
(Section d'Or). The same year, Picabia married Gabrielle Buffet. (They would divorce in 1930.) Around 1911 Picabia joined the Puteaux Group, whose members he had met at the studio of
Jacques Villon Jacques Villon (July 31, 1875 – June 9, 1963), also known as Gaston Duchamp, was a French Cubist and Abstract art, abstract painter and printmaker. Early life Born Émile Méry Frédéric Gaston Duchamp in Damville, Eure, Damville, Eure, ...
in
Puteaux Puteaux () is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located in the heart of the Hauts-de-Seine department, from the centre of Paris. La Défense, Paris's business district hosting the tallest buildings in the metropolitan ...
, a commune in the western suburbs of Paris. There he became friends with artist
Marcel Duchamp Henri-Robert-Marcel Duchamp (, ; ; 28 July 1887 – 2 October 1968) was a French painter, sculptor, chess player, and writer whose work is associated with Cubism, Dada, Futurism and conceptual art. He is commonly regarded, along with Pablo Pica ...
and close friends with
Guillaume Apollinaire Guillaume Apollinaire (; ; born Kostrowicki; 26 August 1880 – 9 November 1918) was a French poet, playwright, short story writer, novelist and art critic of Poland, Polish descent. Apollinaire is considered one of the foremost poets of the ...
. Other group members included
Albert Gleizes Albert Gleizes (; 8 December 1881 – 23 June 1953) was a French artist, theoretician, philosopher, a self-proclaimed founder of Cubism and an influence on the School of Paris. Albert Gleizes and Jean Metzinger wrote the first major treatise on ...
,
Roger de La Fresnaye Roger de La Fresnaye (; 11 July 1885 – 27 November 1925) was a French Cubist painter. Early years and education La Fresnaye was born in Le Mans where his father, an officer in the French army, was temporarily stationed. The La Fresnayes were ...
,
Fernand Léger Joseph Fernand Henri Léger (; February 4, 1881 – August 17, 1955) was a French painting, painter, sculpture, sculptor, and film director, filmmaker. In his early works he created a personal form of cubism (known as "tubism") which he gradually ...
and
Jean Metzinger Jean Dominique Antony Metzinger (; 24 June 1883 – 3 November 1956) was a major 20th-century French painter, theorist, writer, critic and poet, who along with Albert Gleizes wrote the first theoretical work on Cubism. His earliest works, from 1 ...
.


Proto-Dada

In 1913, the Association of American Painters and Sculptors held the first major show of modernist art in New York City, which would become known as the
Armory Show The 1913 Armory Show, also known as the International Exhibition of Modern Art, was organized by thAssociation of American Painters and Sculptors It was the first large exhibition of modern art in America, as well as one of the many exhibition ...
. The wealthy Picabia was the only member of the Cubist group to personally attend the Armory Show, as the others could not afford to do so, and he also contributed four paintings. The American press was largely hostile to the show, describing it as bizarre or deviant, but Picabia was widely interviewed and discussed as the only representative of the movement available. He immediately became a major name in New York's artistic circles. Avant-garde art dealer
Alfred Stieglitz Alfred Stieglitz (; January 1, 1864 – July 13, 1946) was an American photographer and modern art promoter who was instrumental over his 50-year career in making photography an accepted art form. In addition to his photography, Stieglitz was k ...
also gave Picabia a solo show, ''Exhibition of New York studies by Francis Picabia'', at his gallery 291 (formerly ''Little Galleries of the Photo-Secession''), 17 March – 5 April 1913. There, Picabia displayed work that he had created in the past few months in New York. Influenced by
abstract art Abstract art uses visual language of shape, form, color and line to create a Composition (visual arts), composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. ''Abstract art'', ''non-figurative art'', ''non- ...
from the Armory Show such as that of
Wassily Kandinsky Wassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky ( – 13 December 1944) was a Russian painter and art theorist. Kandinsky is generally credited as one of the pioneers of abstract art, abstraction in western art. Born in Moscow, he spent his childhood in ...
, he was now creating abstract works of his own. When he returned to Paris in April 1913, he formally broke with the Cubists. From 1913 to 1915 Picabia traveled to New York City several times. During that same era, France became embroiled in
war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...
. In 1915, Picabia again traveled to the United States en route to Cuba to buy molasses for a friend of his—the director of a sugar refinery. He landed in NewYork in June 1915. Though the stopover was ostensibly meant to be a simple port of call, he decided to remain there for a while to continue working on his art. He did not return to France until the war's conclusion. The following years can be characterized as Picabia's proto-Dada or "machinist" period, consisting mainly of his ''portraits mécaniques''.Camfield, William A. “The Machinist Style of Francis Picabia.” The Art Bulletin, vol. 48, no. 3/4, 1966, pp. 309–22. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/3048388. Accessed 7 August 2023. Picabia was first impressed by mechanical advances on his initial, 1913 visit to New York, and on returning to Europe, he was impressed by futurist painters such as
Natalia Goncharova Natalia Sergeevna Goncharova (, ; 3 July 188117 October 1962) was a Russian avant-garde artist, painter, costume designer, writer, illustrator, and set designer. Goncharova's lifelong partner was fellow Russian avant-garde artist Mikhail Lariono ...
and
Mikhail Larionov Mikhail Fyodorovich Larionov (; – May 10, 1964) was a Russian avant-garde painter who worked with radical exhibitors and pioneered the first approach to abstract Russian art. He was founding member of two important artistic groups Knave ...
. Picabia was particularly influenced by the "machine style" of
Marcel Duchamp Henri-Robert-Marcel Duchamp (, ; ; 28 July 1887 – 2 October 1968) was a French painter, sculptor, chess player, and writer whose work is associated with Cubism, Dada, Futurism and conceptual art. He is commonly regarded, along with Pablo Pica ...
, in which the artist used materials such as metal and glass as well as mechanical drawing implements. In 1915, Picabia began to create and exhibit his own drawings and prints of mysterious machines and apparatuses to reflect the coming of the
Machine Age The Machine Age is an era that includes the early-to-mid 20th century, sometimes also including the late 19th century. An approximate dating would be about 1880 to 1945. Considered to be at its peak in the time between the first and second wo ...
. He continued in this style for almost a decade, exhibiting a large solo show of his machinist work in 1922. In 1923, he abruptly discontinued his work in the style, as he had with several previous styles. In this period, the magazine ''
291 __NOTOC__ Year 291 ( CCXCI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known in Rome as the Year of the Consulship of Tiberianus and Dio (or, less frequently, year 1044 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomin ...
'' devoted an entire issue to him, he met
Man Ray Man Ray (born Emmanuel Radnitzky; August 27, 1890 – November 18, 1976) was an American naturalized French visual artist who spent most of his career in Paris. He was a significant contributor to the Dada and Surrealism, Surrealist movements, ...
, Gabrielle and Duchamp joined him, drugs and alcohol became a problem and his health declined. He suffered from
dropsy Edema (American English), also spelled oedema (British English), and also known as fluid retention, swelling, dropsy and hydropsy, is the build-up of fluid in the body's tissue. Most commonly, the legs or arms are affected. Symptoms may inclu ...
and
tachycardia Tachycardia, also called tachyarrhythmia, is a heart rate that exceeds the normal resting rate. In general, a resting heart rate over 100 beats per minute is accepted as tachycardia in adults. Heart rates above the resting rate may be normal ...
.


Manifesto

Later, in 1916, while in
Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
and within a small circle of refugee artists that included
Albert Gleizes Albert Gleizes (; 8 December 1881 – 23 June 1953) was a French artist, theoretician, philosopher, a self-proclaimed founder of Cubism and an influence on the School of Paris. Albert Gleizes and Jean Metzinger wrote the first major treatise on ...
and his wife Juliette Roche, Marie Laurencin, Olga Sacharoff,
Robert Delaunay Robert Delaunay (; 12 April 1885 – 25 October 1941) was a French artist of the School of Paris movement; who, with his wife Sonia Delaunay and others, co-founded the Orphism (art), Orphism art movement, noted for its use of strong colours and g ...
and
Sonia Delaunay Sonia Delaunay (; 14 November 1885 – 5 December 1979) was a French artist born to Jewish parents, who spent most of her working life in Paris. She was born in the Russian Empire, now Ukraine, and was formally trained in Russia and Germany, be ...
, he started his
Dada Dada () or Dadaism was an anti-establishment art movement that developed in 1915 in the context of the Great War and the earlier anti-art movement. Early centers for dadaism included Zürich and Berlin. Within a few years, the movement had s ...
periodical '' 391'' (published by
Galeries Dalmau Galeries Dalmau was an art gallery in Barcelona, Spain, from 1906 to 1930 (also known as Sala Dalmau, Les Galeries Dalmau, Galería Dalmau, and Galeries J. Dalmau). The gallery was founded and managed by the Symbolist painter and restorer . The ...
), modeled on Stieglitz's own periodical. He continued the periodical with the help of Marcel Duchamp in the United States. In
Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...
, seeking treatment for depression and suicidal impulses, he had met
Tristan Tzara Tristan Tzara (; ; ; born Samuel or Samy Rosenstock, also known as S. Samyro; – 25 December 1963) was a Romanian and French avant-garde poet, essayist and performance artist. Also active as a journalist, playwright, literary and art critic, c ...
, whose radical ideas thrilled Picabia. Back in Paris, and now with his mistress Germaine Everling, he was in the city of "les assises dada" where
André Breton André Robert Breton (; ; 19 February 1896 – 28 September 1966) was a French writer and poet, the co-founder, leader, and principal theorist of surrealism. His writings include the first ''Surrealist Manifesto'' (''Manifeste du surréalisme'') ...
,
Paul Éluard Paul Éluard (), born Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (; 14 December 1895 – 18 November 1952), was a French poet and one of the founders of the Surrealist movement. In 1916, he chose the name Paul Éluard, a matronymic borrowed from his maternal ...
,
Philippe Soupault Philippe Soupault (2 August 1897 – 12 March 1990) was a French writer and poet, novelist, critic, and political activist. He was active in Dadaism and later was instrumental in founding the Surrealist movement with André Breton. Soupault ini ...
and
Louis Aragon Louis Aragon (; 3 October 1897 – 24 December 1982) was a French poet who was one of the leading voices of the Surrealism, surrealist movement in France. He co-founded with André Breton and Philippe Soupault the surrealist review ''Littératur ...
met at Certa, a
Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...
bar in the Passage de l'Opera. Picabia, the provocateur, was back home. Picabia continued his involvement in the Dada movement through 1919 in Zürich and Paris, before breaking away from it after developing an interest in
Surrealist Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...
art. (See ''Cannibale'', 1921.) He denounced Dada in 1921, and issued a personal attack against Breton in the final issue of ''391'', in 1924. The same year, he appeared briefly in the
René Clair René Clair (; 11 November 1898 – 15 March 1981), born René-Lucien Chomette (), was a French filmmaker and writer. He first established his reputation in the 1920s as a director of silent films in which comedy was often mingled with fantasy. H ...
short film ''
Entr'acte (or , ;Since 1932–35 the recommends this spelling, with no apostrophe, so historical, ceremonial and traditional uses (such as the 1924 René Clair film title) are still spelled . and ', , and ) means 'between the acts'. It can mean a pau ...
'', which would become one of the most famous
surrealist Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...
films of the decade.


Later years

Reflecting on his break with Dada, Picabia wrote, "If you want to have clean ideas, change them like shirts." His career would later be remembered in part for his wide range of artistic styles. In 1922,
André Breton André Robert Breton (; ; 19 February 1896 – 28 September 1966) was a French writer and poet, the co-founder, leader, and principal theorist of surrealism. His writings include the first ''Surrealist Manifesto'' (''Manifeste du surréalisme'') ...
relaunched ''Littérature'' magazine with cover images by Picabia, to whom he gave carte blanche for each issue. Picabia drew on religious imagery,
erotic Eroticism () is a quality that causes sexual feelings, as well as a philosophical contemplation concerning the aesthetics of sexual desire, sensuality, and romantic love. That quality may be found in any form of artwork, including painting, sculp ...
iconography, and the iconography of games of chance. In 1925, Picabia returned to figurative painting, producing a series of dense, garish paintings known as his "Monster" period. These would later be an important influence on German painter Sigmar Polke. From 1927 to 1930, Picabia produced his "Transparencies" series, paintings that combined images from
High Renaissance In art history, the High Renaissance was a short period of the most exceptional artistic production in the Italian states, particularly Rome, capital of the Papal States, and in Florence, during the Italian Renaissance. Most art historians stat ...
art with figures from contemporary popular culture. During the 1930s became a close friend of and received encouragement from the modernist novelist
Gertrude Stein Gertrude Stein (February 3, 1874 – July 27, 1946) was an American novelist, poet, playwright, and art collector. Born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania (now part of Pittsburgh), and raised in Oakland, California, Stein moved to Paris in 1903, and ...
, painting a portrait of her in 1933. In 1940, he married Olga Mohler on 14 June, the same day that the Nazis seized Paris. Shortly after, he moved to
Southern France Southern France, also known as the south of France or colloquially in French as , is a geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi atlantique'', Atlas e ...
, where his work took a surprising turn: he produced a series of paintings based on the nude glamour photos in French "girlie" magazines like '' Paris Sex-Appeal'', in a garish style which appears to subvert traditional, academic nude painting. Some of these went to an Algerian merchant who sold them, and so it passed that Picabia came to decorate brothels across North Africa under the Occupation. Before the end of World War II, he returned to Paris, where he resumed abstract painting and writing poetry. A large
retrospective A retrospective (from Latin ', "look back"), generally, is a look back at events that took place, or works that were produced, in the past. As a noun, ''retrospective'' has specific meanings in software development, popular culture, and the arts. ...
of his work was held at the Galerie René Drouin in Paris in the spring of 1949. Picabia died in Paris in 1953 and was interred in the Cimetière de Montmartre.


Personal life

He was married in 1909 to Gabrièle Buffet-Picabia, a French art critic and writer affiliated with Dadaism and later an organizer of the French resistance. They had four children. They divorced in 1930. Their tumultuous union is re-imagined by great-granddaughter Anne Berest in ''The Postcard'', a semi-autobiographical French novel published in 2021.


Legacy

Public collections holding works by Picabia include the
Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...
and
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, often referred to as The Guggenheim, is an art museum at 1071 Fifth Avenue between 88th and 89th Street (Manhattan), 89th Streets on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It hosts a permanent coll ...
in
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
; the
Philadelphia Museum of Art The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) is an List of art museums#North America, art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at ...
; the
Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. The museum is based in the Art Institute of Chicago Building in Chicago's Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park. Its collection, stewa ...
; the
Tate Gallery Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the UK ...
, London and the
Musée National d'Art Moderne The Musée National d'Art Moderne (; "National Museum of Modern Art") is the national museum for modern art of France. It is located in the 4th arrondissement of Paris and is housed in the Centre Pompidou. In 2021 it ranked 10th in the list of ...
, Paris. In the mid-1980s two of Picabia's Dada writings, ''Who Knows'' and ''Yes No'' were published in English by Hanuman Books and in 2007
MIT Press The MIT Press is the university press of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The MIT Press publishes a number of academic journals and has been a pioneer in the Open Ac ...
published a large book of his poetry and other writings in English called ''I Am a Beautiful Monster: Poetry, Prose, and Provocation'' that was translated by Marc Lowenthal. A major retrospective of Picabia's work in the United States was held in 2016 at
Kunsthaus Zürich The Kunsthaus Zürich is an art museum in Zurich. It is the biggest art museum in Switzerland by area and houses one of the most important art collections in Switzerland, assembled over time by the Zürcher Kunstgesellschaft, a nonprofit art soc ...
and then from 2016 to 2017 at the Museum of Modern Art, New York. The retrospective was widely discussed by international art critics such as Philippe Dagen from ''
Le Monde (; ) is a mass media in France, French daily afternoon list of newspapers in France, newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average print circulation, circulation of 480,000 copies per issue in 2022, including ...
''. Among the artists influenced by Picabia's work are the American artists
David Salle David Salle (born September 28, 1952; last name pronounced "Sally") is an American Postmodern painter, printmaker, photographer, and stage designer. Salle was born in Norman, Oklahoma, and lives and works in East Hampton, New York. He earned a B ...
and
Julian Schnabel Julian Schnabel (born October 26, 1951) is an American painter and filmmaker. In the 1980s, he received international attention for his "plate paintings"—with broken ceramic plates set onto large-scale paintings. Since the 1990s, he has been a ...
, the German artist Sigmar Polke, and the Italian artist
Francesco Clemente Francesco Clemente (born 23 March 1952) is an Italian contemporary artist. He has lived at various times in Italy, India and New York City. Some of his work is influenced by the traditional art and culture of India. He has worked in various a ...
. In 1996, French artist
Jean-Jacques Lebel Jean-Jacques Lebel (; born 30 June 1936, Paris) is a French visual artist, poet, art collector, writer, political activist, and creator of performance art happening art events. Besides his heterogeneous artworks and poetry, Lebel is also known f ...
initiated and co-curated the exhibition ''Picabia, Dalmau 1922'' (with reference to Picabia's solo exhibition at
Galeries Dalmau Galeries Dalmau was an art gallery in Barcelona, Spain, from 1906 to 1930 (also known as Sala Dalmau, Les Galeries Dalmau, Galería Dalmau, and Galeries J. Dalmau). The gallery was founded and managed by the Symbolist painter and restorer . The ...
in 1922) shown at Fundació Antoni Tàpies in Barcelona and the
Musée National d'Art Moderne The Musée National d'Art Moderne (; "National Museum of Modern Art") is the national museum for modern art of France. It is located in the 4th arrondissement of Paris and is housed in the Centre Pompidou. In 2021 it ranked 10th in the list of ...
,
Centre Pompidou The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the (), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English and colloquially as Beaubourg, is a building complex in Paris, France. It was designed in the style of high-tech architecture by the architectural team of ...
. In 2002, the artists
Peter Fischli & David Weiss Peter Fischli (born 8 June 1952) and David Weiss (21 June 1946 – 27 April 2012), often shortened to Fischli/Weiss, were a Swiss artist duo that collaborated since 1979. Their best-known work is the film ''Der Lauf der Dinge'' (''The Way Things ...
installed
Suzanne Pagé Suzanne Pagé (born in 1941 in Brittany) is a French curator and museum director. She is currently the artistic director of the Louis Vuitton Foundation for Creation in Paris. Career Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris In 1973 Pagé began ...
's retrospective devoted to Picabia at the musée d'art moderne de la ville de Paris (MAMVP). In 2003, a Picabia painting once owned by
André Breton André Robert Breton (; ; 19 February 1896 – 28 September 1966) was a French writer and poet, the co-founder, leader, and principal theorist of surrealism. His writings include the first ''Surrealist Manifesto'' (''Manifeste du surréalisme'') ...
sold for US$1.6million. Picabia's ''Volucelle II'' () sold for US$8,789,000 at
Sotheby's Sotheby's ( ) is a British-founded multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine art, fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...
in 2013, then the highest price for one of the artist's works.Francis Picabia, ''Volucelle II'', , Ripolin on canvas, 198,5 x 249 cm
US$8,789,000. Sotheby's, Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale, New York, Wednesday, 6 November 2013 A new record was set in 2022 with the sale of ''Pavonia'' at Sotheby's for US$11million.


Gallery

File:Francis Picabia.jpg, Francis Picabia in his studio File:Francis Picabia, 1911, Horses, oil on canvas, 73.3 x 92.5 cm, Musée National d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris.jpg, ''Horses'', 1911, oil on canvas, 73.3 x 92.5 cm,
Musée National d'Art Moderne The Musée National d'Art Moderne (; "National Museum of Modern Art") is the national museum for modern art of France. It is located in the 4th arrondissement of Paris and is housed in the Centre Pompidou. In 2021 it ranked 10th in the list of ...
,
Centre Georges Pompidou The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the (), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English and colloquially as Beaubourg, is a building complex in Paris, France. It was designed in the style of high-tech architecture by the architectural team of ...
, Paris
Published in the New York Times, New York, 16 February 1913, Page 121
File:Francis Picabia, 1911-12 - Paysage à Cassis.jpg, ''Paysage à Cassis'' (''Landscape at Cassis''), 1911–12, oil on canvas, 50.3 × 61.5 cm, private collection File:Francis Picabia, 1912, Tarentelle, oil on canvas, 73.6 x 92.1 cm, Museum of Modern Art, New York.jpg, ''Tarentelle'', 1912, oil on canvas, 73.6 x 92.1 cm,
Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...
, New York. Reproduced in '' Du "Cubisme"'' by
Albert Gleizes Albert Gleizes (; 8 December 1881 – 23 June 1953) was a French artist, theoretician, philosopher, a self-proclaimed founder of Cubism and an influence on the School of Paris. Albert Gleizes and Jean Metzinger wrote the first major treatise on ...
and
Jean Metzinger Jean Dominique Antony Metzinger (; 24 June 1883 – 3 November 1956) was a major 20th-century French painter, theorist, writer, critic and poet, who along with Albert Gleizes wrote the first theoretical work on Cubism. His earliest works, from 1 ...
, published in 1912 File:Francis Picabia, 1912, The Procession, Seville, oil on canvas, 121.9 x 121.9 cm, National Gallery of Art, Washington DC.jpg, ''The Procession, Seville'', 1912, oil on canvas, 121.9 x 121.9 cm,
National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art is an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of charge, the museum was privately established in ...
, Washington DC. File:Francis Picabia, The Dance at the Spring, 1912, oil on canvas, Philadelphia Museum of Art.jpg, ''The Dance at the Spring'', 1912, oil on canvas, 120.5 x 120.6 cm,
Philadelphia Museum of Art The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) is an List of art museums#North America, art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at ...
. Exhibited at the 1913
Armory Show The 1913 Armory Show, also known as the International Exhibition of Modern Art, was organized by thAssociation of American Painters and Sculptors It was the first large exhibition of modern art in America, as well as one of the many exhibition ...
File:Francis Picabia, 1913, Edtaonisl (Ecclesiastic), oil on canvas, 300.4 x 300.7 cm, Art Institute of Chicago.jpg, ''Edtaonisl'' (''Ecclesiastic''), 1913, oil on canvas, 300.4 x 300.7 cm,
Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. The museum is based in the Art Institute of Chicago Building in Chicago's Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park. Its collection, stewa ...
File:Francis Picabia, 1913, Catch as Catch Can, oil on canvas, 100.6 x 81.6 cm, Philadelphia Museum of Art.jpg, ''Catch as Catch Can'', 1913, oil on canvas, 100.6 x 81.6 cm,
Philadelphia Museum of Art The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) is an List of art museums#North America, art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at ...
File:Picabia starDancer.jpg, ''Star Dancer on a Transatlantic Steamer'', 1913 File:Francis Picabia, 1913-14, Force Comique, aquarelle et graphite sur papier, 63.4 x 52.7 cm, Berkshire Museum.jpg, ''Force Comique'', 1913–14, watercolor and graphite on paper, 63.4 x 52.7 cm,
Berkshire Museum The Berkshire Museum is a museum of art, natural history, and ancient civilization that is located in Pittsfield in Berkshire County, Massachusetts. History In 1903, local paper magnate Zenas Crane founded the Berkshire Museum. Inspired by suc ...
, Pittsfield, MA File:Francis Picabia, Ici, c'est ici Stieglitz, foi et amour, cover of 291, No1, 1915.jpg, ''Ici, c'est ici Stieglitz, foi et amour'', cover of
291 __NOTOC__ Year 291 ( CCXCI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known in Rome as the Year of the Consulship of Tiberianus and Dio (or, less frequently, year 1044 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomin ...
, No1, 1915 File:Francis Picabia, 1915, Fille née sans mère (Girl Born Without a Mother), work on paper, 47.4 x 31.7 cm, Musée d'Orsay.jpg, ''Fille née sans mère'' (''Girl Born Without a Mother''), 1915, work on paper, 47.4 x 31.7 cm,
Musée d'Orsay The Musée d'Orsay ( , , ) () is a museum in Paris, France, on the Rive Gauche, Left Bank of the Seine. It is housed in the former Gare d'Orsay, a Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts railway station built from 1898 to 1900. The museum holds mai ...
File:Francis Picabia, 1915, Voilà Haviland (la poésie est comme lui).jpg, ''Voilà Haviland'' (''La poésie est comme lui''), Portrait mécanomorphe de Paul B. Haviland, 1915, Musée d'Orsay File:Francis Picabia, 1916-17, Prostitution Universelle (Universal Prostitution), black ink, tempera, metallic paint on cardboard, 74.5 x 94.2 cm, Yale University Art Gallery.tif, ''Prostitution Universelle'' (''Universal Prostitution''), 1916–17, black ink, tempera, metallic paint on cardboard, 74.5 x 94.2 cm,
Yale University Art Gallery The Yale University Art Gallery (YUAG) is an art museum in New Haven, Connecticut. It houses a major encyclopedic collection of art in several interconnected buildings on the campus of Yale University. Although it embraces all cultures and period ...
File:Francis Picabia, 1919, Réveil Matin (Alarm Clock), ink on paper, 31.8 x 23 cm, Tate, London.jpg, ''Réveil Matin'' (''Alarm Clock''), 1919, ink on paper, 31.8 x 23 cm, Tate, London File:Francis Picabia, Dada Movement, Dada, Number 5, 15 May 1919.jpg, ''Dada Movement'', Dada, Number 5, 15 May 1919 File:Francis Picabia, 1920, Portrait of Cézanne, Portrait of Renoir, Portrait of Rembrandt.jpg, ''Portrait of Cézanne, Portrait of Renoir, Portrait of Rembrandt'', 1920, Toy monkey and oil on cardboard, 39.4 x 55 cm, Reproduced in Cannibale, Paris, n. 1, April 25, 1920 File:Francis Picabia, 1920, La Sainte Vierge (The Blessed Virgin), ink and graphite on paper, 33 x 24 cm, Musée National d'Art Moderne, Paris.jpg, ''La Sainte Vierge'' (''The Blessed Virgin''), 1920, ink and graphite on paper, 33 x 24 cm,
Musée National d'Art Moderne The Musée National d'Art Moderne (; "National Museum of Modern Art") is the national museum for modern art of France. It is located in the 4th arrondissement of Paris and is housed in the Centre Pompidou. In 2021 it ranked 10th in the list of ...
, Paris File:Francis Picabia, 1921, L'oeil cacodylate, oil and collage on canvas, 148.6 x 117.4 cm, Musée National d'Art Moderne.jpg, Francis Picabia, 1921, ''L'oeil cacodylate'', oil and collage on canvas, 148.6 x 117.4cm,
Musée National d'Art Moderne The Musée National d'Art Moderne (; "National Museum of Modern Art") is the national museum for modern art of France. It is located in the 4th arrondissement of Paris and is housed in the Centre Pompidou. In 2021 it ranked 10th in the list of ...
, Paris File:Francis Picabia, 1922c - Optophone.jpg, ''Optophone I'', c. 1921–22, ink, acrylic, and graphite on paper, 72 x 60 cm. Reproduced in Galeries Dalmau, ''Picabia'', exhibition catalogue, Barcelona, Nov. 18 - Dec. 8, 1922 File:Espagnole et agneau de l'Apocalypse.png, ''Espagnole et agneau de l'apocalypse'', c. 1927–28, gouache, watercolour and brush and ink on paper, 65 × 50 cm, private collection File:Picabia Hera 2.JPG, ''Hera'', c. 1929, oil on cardboard, 105 × 75 cm, private collection File:Francis Picabia - Transparence.jpg, ''Transparence - Sphinx'', 1929, oil on canvas, 131 × 163 cm,
Centre Georges Pompidou The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the (), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English and colloquially as Beaubourg, is a building complex in Paris, France. It was designed in the style of high-tech architecture by the architectural team of ...


See also

* Dadaglobe *
Anti-art Anti-art is a loosely used term applied to an array of concepts and attitudes that reject prior definitions of art and question art in general. Somewhat paradoxically, anti-art tends to conduct this questioning and rejection from the vantage poi ...


References


Bibliography

* Allan, Kenneth R. “Metamorphosis in ''391'': A Cryptographic Collaboration by Francis Picabia, Man Ray, and Erik Satie.” ''Art History'' 34, No. 1 (February 2011): 102–125. * Baker, George. ''The Artwork Caught by the Tail: Francis Picabia and Dada in Paris''. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2007. () * Borràs, Maria Lluïsa. ''Picabia''. Trans. Kenneth Lyons. New York: Rizzoli, 1985. * Calté, Beverly and Arnauld Pierre. ''Francis Picabia.'' Tokyo: APT International, 1999. * Camfield, William. ''Francis Picabia: His Art, Life and Times''. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1979. * Hopkins, David. “Questioning Dada’s Potency: Picabia’s ‘La Sainte Vierge’ and the Dialogue with Duchamp.” ''Art History'' 15, No. 3 (September 1992): 317–333. * Legge, Elizabeth. “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Virgin: Francis Picabia’s La Sainte Vierge.” ''Word & Image'' 12, No. 2 (April–June 1996): 218–242. * Page, Suzanne, William Camfield, Annie Le Brun, Emmanuelle de l’Ecotais, ''et al.'', ''Francis Picabia: Singulier ideal''. Paris: Musée d’Art moderne de la Ville de Paris, 2002. * Picabia, Francis. ''I Am a Beautiful Monster: Poetry Prose, and Provocation.'' Trans. Marc Lowenthal, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2007. () * Pierre, Arnauld. ''Francis Picabia: La peinture sans aura.'' Paris: Gallimard, 2002. * Wilson, Sarah. "Francis Picabia: Accommodations of Desire – Transparencies 1924–1932." New York: Kent Fine Art, 1989. ()


External links


Picabia's Cats

Comité Picabia
the organization developing a catalogue raisonné of the artist

* Scans of Picabia's publication


Movement''
in the MoMA Online Collection
Francis Picabia. Machines and Spanish Women
Exhibition at Fundació Antoni Tàpies
''Francis Picabia: Materials and Techniques''
publication of the MoMA {{DEFAULTSORT:Picabia, Francis Francis Picabia 1879 births 1953 deaths 19th-century French painters 20th-century French painters 20th-century French male artists French abstract painters École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs alumni Burials at Montmartre Cemetery French collage artists French cubist artists Dada French male painters French people of Cuban descent French people of Spanish descent Orphism (art) Dadaists 20th-century French artists 19th-century French male artists