Francis Picabia

French painter and writer (1879-1953) · France · Artists · Died at 74

Francis Picabia is read about 338 times a day, in 46 languages.

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Picabia painted in so many styles across fifty years that even calling him a painter feels too narrow - Cubist abstractions, Dada provocations, Surrealist flirtations, then a hard pivot away from all of it. He didn't evolve so much as refuse to settle.

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A life in dates

1953Died30 November 19531933Knight of the Legion of HonourAward1921“FRANCIS PICABIA / is an imbecile, an idiot, a pickpocket!!! / 1921 / BUT / He saved Arp from constipation!”In their wordsQuote of Picabia in his 'Manifesto, 1921'; as cited in Manifesto: A Century of Isms, ed. Mary Ann Caws, Lincoln: University of NebraskaRead the whole statement

“So Picabia has invented nothing, he just copies. But of course, Picabia copies an engineer's sketch instead of copying apples.”In their words23 November 1921in 'L'oeil cacodylate', Comoedia, 23 November 1921, p. 2Read the whole statement

1919“Perhaps we'll be able to do beautiful things, since I have a stellar, insane desire to assassinate beauty.”In their wordsQuote in Picabia's letter to Tristan Tzara, Summer 1919; as cited in TaTa Dada: The Real Life and Celestial Adventures of Tristan Tzara,Read the whole statement

1915“Naturally, form has come to take precedence over color with me, though when I began painting color predominated.”In their wordsQuote of Picabia, in an interview in an American newspaper, 1915; as quoted by William A. Camfield, in Francis Picabia: His Art, Life andRead the whole statement

1913“The aim of art is to get us to dream, just like music, for it expresses a mood projected onto the canvas, which arouses identical sensations in the viewer.”In their wordstwo short quotes of Picabia, in 'A Paris painter', by Hapgood, published in 'The Globe and Commercial Advertiser', 20 Febr. 1913, p. 8Read the whole statement

1910“..giving plastic reality to inner states of the mind.”In their words1910'sRead the whole statement

1879Born22 January 1879

Also in Deutsch

Photos 8

Francis Picabia, photograph published in Les Peintres Cubistes, 1913

(Francis Picabia and F.M. Mansfield with 2 women and a man at outdoor café table. Gassis(?)) LOC 27877938225

André Breton d'idiots

Beatrice Wood and Marcel Duchamp

Bords de Loire, St. Julien sur Loire)

Bruselas, fachadas 24

Campagne)

Caricature de Francis Picabia dans Le Merle blanc du 24 avril 1920

In their own words 8

Francis Picabia

8 statements, newest first

FRANCIS PICABIA / is an imbecile, an idiot, a pickpocket!!! / 1921 / BUT / He saved Arp from constipation!
1921, Quote of Picabia in his 'Manifesto, 1921'; as cited in Manifesto: A Century of Isms, ed. Mary Ann Caws, Lincoln: University of Nebraska, Own words
So Picabia has invented nothing, he just copies. But of course, Picabia copies an engineer's sketch instead of copying apples.
Nov 23, 1921, in 'L'oeil cacodylate', Comoedia, 23 November 1921, p. 2, Own words
The Cubists want to cover Dada with snow; that may surprise you, but it is so, they want to empty the snow from their pipe to bury DaDa. Are you sure?
1920, In 'DADA manifesto 1920'; as quoted in Manifesto: A Century of Isms, ed. Mary Ann Caws, Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2001, nr., Own words

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Awards

Knight of the Legion of Honour1933

Family

Francis Picabia

Partners

Spouse Gabriële Buffet-Picabia

Children

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About this person

Born Francis-Marie Martinez de Picabia in January 1879, he moved through Impressionism and Pointillism before landing on Cubism, where his abstract planar works stood out for their color and contrast. He became a major early figure in Dada on both sides of the Atlantic, publishing, writing, making films, and designing type alongside the paintings. In 1921 he denounced Dada outright. A brief Surrealist phase followed, then he turned his back on the art establishment entirely. He died in November 1953, having refused allegiance to any single movement long enough for it to define him.

Country

France

In common with Francis

Man RayAlso in Entr'acte (1924)

René ClairAlso in Entr'acte (1924)

Marcel DuchampAlso in Entr'acte (1924)

Georges AuricAlso in Entr'acte (1924)

Marcel AchardAlso in Entr'acte (1924)

Artists from France 1

Francesco Primaticcio55.4

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