Francis Picabia (: born Francis-Marie Martinez de Picabia; 22January 1879 – 30November 1953) was a French

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

painter, poet and typographist. After experimenting with

Impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating ...

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" wa ...

, Picabia became associated with

Cubism Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassemble ...

. 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 art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century, with early centres in Zürich, Switzerland, at the Cabaret Voltaire (Zurich), Cabaret Voltaire (in 1916). New York Dada began c. 1915, and after 192 ...

movement in the United States and in France. He was later briefly associated with

Surrealism Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...

, but would soon turn his back on the art establishment.

Biography

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, but not without tragedy. Picabia's mother died of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

when he was seven and her mother died soon after. 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.

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. Biograph ...

and others at

École des Arts Decoratifs École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by Secondary education in France, secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région ...

, 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 posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, inclu ...

and

Toulouse-Lautrec Comte Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec-Monfa (24 November 1864 – 9 September 1901) was a French painter, printmaker, draughtsman, caricaturist and illustrator whose immersion in the colourful and theatrical life of Paris in the la ...

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, making him financially independent. Early in his career, from 1903 to 1908, Picabia was influenced by the

Impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open 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 dedicatio ...

. 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 impressionist painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During ...

cathedrals, or that he painted like Signac. Francis Picabia - Caoutchouc

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 that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassemble ...

. These artists would later form the Golden Section (Section d'Or). The same year, Picabia married Gabrielle Buffet. Around 1911 Picabia joined the

Puteaux Group The Section d'Or ("Golden Section"), also known as Groupe de Puteaux or Puteaux Group, was a collective of Painting, painters, sculptors, poets and critics associated with Cubism and Orphism (art), Orphism. Based in the Parisian suburbs, the grou ...

, 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 painter and printmaker. Early life Born Émile Méry Frédéric Gaston Duchamp in Damville, Eure, in Normandy, France, he came ...

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. In 2016, it had a population of 44,941. La Défense, Paris's business district hosting the ...

, 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, and conceptual art. Duchamp is commonly regarded, along with Pablo Picasso ...

and close friends with

Guillaume Apollinaire Guillaume Apollinaire) of the Wąż coat of arms. (; 26 August 1880 – 9 November 1918) was a French poet, playwright, short story writer, novelist, and art critic of 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

Picabia was the only member of the Cubist group to personally attend the

Armory Show The 1913 Armory Show, also known as the International Exhibition of Modern Art, was a show organized by the Association of American Painters and Sculptors in 1913. It was the first large exhibition of modern art in America, as well as one of ...

, and

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 kno ...

gave him 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. From 1913 to 1915 Picabia traveled to New York City several times and took an active part in the avant-garde movements, introducing

Modern art Modern art includes artistic work produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the styles and philosophies of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the tradi ...

to America. During that same era, France became embroiled in

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

. 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 became intrigued with the city and his stay became prolonged. The magazine ''291'' devoted an entire issue to him, he met

Man Ray Man Ray (born Emmanuel Radnitzky; August 27, 1890 – November 18, 1976) was an American visual artist who spent most of his career in Paris. He was a significant contributor to the Dada and Surrealism, Surrealist movements, although his t ...

, Gabrielle and Duchamp joined him, drugs and alcohol became a problem and his health declined. He suffered from

dropsy Edema, also spelled oedema, and also known as fluid retention, dropsy, hydropsy and swelling, is the build-up of fluid in the body's tissue. Most commonly, the legs or arms are affected. Symptoms may include skin which feels tight, the area ma ...

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 (su ...

. These years can be characterized as Picabia's proto-Dada period, consisting mainly of his ''portraits mécaniques''.

Manifesto

Later, in 1916, while in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern 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 ci ...

and within a small circle of refugee artists that included

and his wife Juliette Roche,

Marie Laurencin Marie Laurencin (31 October 1883 – 8 June 1956) was a French painter and printmaker. She became an important figure in the Parisian Avant-garde#:~:text=The avant-garde (/ˌ,art, culture, or society., avant-garde as a member of the Cubism, Cubist ...

Olga Sacharoff Olga Nicolaevna Sacharoff (May 28, 1889, Tbilisi, Georgia ‒ 1967, Barcelona) was a Spanish artist of Russo-Persian origin associated with naive art and the Surrealist movement. Life and work Olga Sacharoff (also spelled Sakhorova, Zakharova ...

Robert Delaunay Robert Delaunay (12 April 1885 – 25 October 1941) was a French artist who, with his wife Sonia Delaunay and others, co-founded the Orphism art movement, noted for its use of strong colours and geometric shapes. His later works were more abstra ...

and

Sonia Delaunay Sonia Delaunay (13 November 1885 – 5 December 1979) was a French artist, who spent most of her working life in Paris. She was born in Odessa (then part of Russian Empire), and formally trained in Russian Empire and Germany before moving to Fr ...

, he started his

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 Zurich, 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, comp ...

, 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'') o ...

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 surrealist movement in France. He co-founded with André Breton and Philippe Soupault the surrealist review ''Littérature''. He wa ...

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 a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...

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 put in an appearance 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. He wen ...

surrealist film ''

Entr'acte (or ', ;Since 1932–35 the French Academy recommends this spelling, with no apostrophe, so historical, ceremonial and traditional uses (such as the 1924 René Clair film title) are still spelled ''Entr'acte''. German: ' and ', Italian: ''inte ...

'', firing a cannon from a rooftop. The film served as an intermission piece for Picabia's avant-garde ballet, '' Relâche'', premiered at the

Théâtre des Champs-Élysées The Théâtre des Champs-Élysées () is an entertainment venue standing at 15 avenue Montaigne in Paris. It is situated near Avenue des Champs-Élysées, from which it takes its name. Its eponymous main hall may seat up to 1,905 people, while th ...

, with music by

Erik Satie Eric Alfred Leslie Satie (, ; ; 17 May 18661 July 1925), who signed his name Erik Satie after 1884, was a French composer and pianist. He was the son of a French father and a British mother. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire, but was an und ...

Later years

In 1922,

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, scul ...

iconography, and the iconography of games of chance. In 1925, Picabia returned to figurative painting, and during the 1930s became a close friend of the modernist novelist

Gertrude Stein Gertrude Stein (February 3, 1874 – July 27, 1946) was an American novelist, poet, playwright, and art collector. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the Allegheny West neighborhood and raised in Oakland, California, Stein moved to Paris ...

. In the early 1940s he moved to the South of France, 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 ''retrospectare'', "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 medicine, software development, popu ...

of his work was held at the Galerie René Drouin in Paris in the spring of 1949. Francis Picabia died in Paris in 1953 and was interred in the

Cimetière de Montmartre The Cemetery of Montmartre (french: link=no, Cimetière de Montmartre) is a cemetery in the 18th arrondissement of Paris, France, that dates to the early 19th century. Officially known as the Cimetière du Nord, it is the third largest necropolis ...

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 between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

and

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, often referred to as The Guggenheim, is an art museum at 1071 Fifth Avenue on the corner of East 89th Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It is the permanent home of a continuously exp ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

; the

Philadelphia Museum of Art The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMoA) is an 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 northwest end of the Benjamin Fr ...

; the

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...

; 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 U ...

, 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 Paris and is housed in the Centre Pompidou in the 4th arrondissement of the city. In 2021 it ranked 10th in ...

, Paris. From 6 June through to 25 September 2016 at

Kunsthaus Zürich The Kunsthaus Zürich is in terms of area the biggest art museum of Switzerland and houses one of the most important art collections in Switzerland, assembled over the years by the local art association called '. The collection spans from the Medi ...

and then from 21 November 2016 through 19 March 2017, the first retrospective of Picabia's work in the United States,
Francis Picabia: Our Heads Are Round so Our Thoughts Can Change Direction
', took place at the

Museum of Modern Art, New York 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. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, ...

, co-curated by Anne Umland and

Cathérine Hug Cathérine Hug (born 1976) is a Swiss art historian and curator. Life and work Hug was born 1976 in Basel, Switzerland. With her parents and siblings she grew up in Saint-Ursanne and Delémont, Switzerland. Hug studied Computer Science, Media ...

. The retrospective was widely discussed by international art critics such as Philippe Dagen from

Le Monde ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...

. 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 a Pictures Generation American painter, printmaker, photographer, and stage designer. Salle was born in Norman, Oklahoma, and lives and works in East Hampton, New York. He earn ...

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 ...

, the German artist

Sigmar Polke Sigmar Polke (13 February 1941 – 10 June 2010) was a German painter and photographer. Polke experimented with a wide range of styles, subject matters and materials. In the 1970s, he concentrated on photography, returning to paint in the 1980s ...

, 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 art ...

. in 1996, French artist

Jean-Jacques Lebel Jean-Jacques Lebel (born in Paris on June 30, 1936) is a French artist. His father was also a poet, translator, poetry publisher, political activist, art collector, and art historian. Besides his heterogeneous artworks and poetry, Lebel is also k ...

initiated and co-curated the exhibition ''Picabia, Dalmau 1922'' (with reference to Picabia's solo exhibition at

in 1922) shown at

Fundació Antoni Tàpies The Fundació Antoni Tàpies (, 'Antoni Tàpies Foundation') is a cultural center and museum, located in Carrer d'Aragó, in Barcelona, Catalonia. It is dedicated mainly to the life and works of the painter Antoni Tàpies. The Fundació was crea ...

in Barcelona and the

Centre Pompidou The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the Centre national d'art et de culture Georges-Pompidou ( en, National Georges Pompidou Centre of Art and Culture), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English, is a complex building in the Beaubourg area 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 beginning in 1979. Their best-known work is the film '' Der Lauf der Dinge'' (''T ...

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).

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 between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of the ...

, New York, organized
major retrospective
of his entire career, shown from 21 November 2016 to 19 March 2017.

Art market

In 2003, a Picabia painting once owned by

sold for US$1.6million. On 16 November 2013, at Sotheby's Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale in New York, Picabia's ''Volucelle II'' (, Ripolin on canvas, 198,5 x 249 cm) sold for US$8,789,000.Francis Picabia, ''Volucelle II'', c. 1922, 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

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,

Centre Georges Pompidou The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the Centre national d'art et de culture Georges-Pompidou ( en, National Georges Pompidou Centre of Art and Culture), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English, is a complex building in the Beaubourg area of ...

, Paris
Published in the New York Times, New York, 16 February 1913, Page 121
File:Francis Picabia, 1911-12, Paysage à Cassis (Landscape at Cassis), oil on canvas, 50.3 × 61.5 cm, private collection.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,

, New York. Reproduced in ''

Du "Cubisme" ''Du "Cubisme"'', also written ''Du Cubisme'', or ''Du « Cubisme »'' (and in English, ''On Cubism'' or ''Cubism''), is a book written in 1912 by Albert Gleizes and Jean Metzinger. This was the first major text on Cubism, predating ''The Cubist P ...

'' by

and

, 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, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national 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 char ...

, 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,

. Exhibited at the 1913

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,

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,

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 __NOTOC__ The Berkshire Museum is a museum of art, natural history, and ancient civilization that is located in Pittsfield in Berkshire County, Massachusetts ( United States). History The Berkshire Museum, founded by local paper magnate Zenas ...

, 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, 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 ( , , ) ( en, Orsay Museum) is a museum in Paris, France, on the Left Bank of the Seine. It is housed in the former Gare d'Orsay, a Beaux-Arts railway station built between 1898 and 1900. The museum holds mainly French art ...

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 the oldest university art museum in the Western Hemisphere. It houses a major encyclopedic collection of art in several interconnected buildings on the campus of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. ...

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,

, 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,

, Paris File:Francis Picabia, c. 1921-22, Optophone I, encre, aquarelle et mine de plomb sur papier, 72 x 60 cm.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:Picabia,_Espagnole_et_agneau_de_l'apocalypse.jpeg, ''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,

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 Kent Fine Art is an Contemporary art gallery, art gallery in New York City founded in 1985 by Douglas Walla. About Founded in 1985, Kent Fine Art opened at the corner of Madison & 57th Street in the Fuller Building, New York. Since 57th Street, ...

, 1989. ()

Dada is the groundwork to abstract art and sound poetry, a starting point for performance art, a prelude to postmodernism, an influence on pop art, a celebration of antiart to be later embraced for anarcho-political uses in the 1960s and the movement that lay the foundation for Surrealism.
—Marc Lowenthal, translator's introduction to Francis Picabia's ''I Am a Beautiful Monster: Poetry, Prose, And Provocation''

References

External links

Picabia's Cats

Comité Picabia
the organization developing a catalogue raisonné of the artist

* Scans of Picabia's publication

After ''391'': Picabia's early multimedia experiments
Short essay
Movement''
in the MoMA Online Collection
Francis Picabia. Machines and Spanish Women
Exhibition at Fundació Antoni Tàpies

''New York Times''
detailed biography notes of Picabia and his connection with Dada

''Francis Picabia: Materials and Techniques''
publication of the MoMA {{DEFAULTSORT:Picabia, Francis 1879 births 1953 deaths 19th-century French painters 20th-century French painters 20th-century French male artists Abstract painters École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs alumni Burials at Montmartre Cemetery Collage artists Cubist artists Dada French male painters French people of Cuban descent French people of Spanish descent Modern painters Orphism (art) French dadaist French abstract artists 19th-century French male artists

Biography

Early life

Art career

Proto-Dada

Manifesto

Later years

Legacy

Art market

Gallery

See also

Bibliography

References

External links