We should mistrust
picturesque people
we should mistrust
old master painting
we should even mistrust painting
painted without mistrust
-Francis Picabia (1879-1953)
Michael Werner Gallery, London is pleased to present Francis Picabia – Women: Works on Paper 1902-1950, an exhibition of over 40 works on paper spanning 50 years of the iconoclastic French artist’s career.
Gaining notoriety as a leader in the Dada movement only to later reject the movement, Picabia’s contemporary Marcel Duchamp described the artist’s work as a “kaleidoscopic series of art experiences.” Always a step ahead of his peers, Picabia produced an extraordinarily diverse body of work that deeply impacted countless generations of artists.
Art critic Dave Hickey writes, “more engaged with making works of art than with constructing an oeuvre or articulating an ideology, Picabia wore out styles like a baby wears out shoes.” Regularly shifting styles, the artist’s interest in rendering the figure remained steadfast. Culling imagery from sources as diverse as ancient Roman sculpture and paintings by Ingres to contemporary magazine photographs and Hollywood studio portraits, this exhibition explores Picabia’s images of women, a classical subject the artist continually reinterpreted over his career.
Francis Picabia – Women: Works on Paper 1902-1950 opens on 22 February with a private view from 6-8pm and will remain on view through 11 May. A full-colour catalogue will accompany the exhibition with texts by Sara Cochran and Annabelle Ténèze.
Francis Picabia
“Etude pour Transparence”, ca. 1932
Charcoal, ink, pencil on paper
14 x 12 1/4 inches
35.5 x 31.5 cm
PIZ 12
Francis Picabia
“Femme nue de dos et portrait”, 1940
Pencil, ink, oil crayon on paper
10 1/2 x 8 1/2 inches
26.5 x 21.5 cm
PIZ 13
Francis Picabia
“Nue”, 1910
Watercolour, India ink, pencil on vellum
20 x 17 inches
51 x 43 cm
PIZ 18
Francis Picabia
“Untitled”, ca. 1949–1950
Ink on paper
10 3/4 x 8 1/4 inches
27 x 21 cm
PIZ 83/1
Francis Picabia
“Untitled”, ca. 1949–1950
Ink on paper
10 3/4 x 8 1/4 inches
27 x 21 cm
PIZ 83/2
Francis Picabia
“Untitled”, ca. 1949–1950
Ink on paper
10 3/4 x 8 1/4 inches
27 x 21 cm
PIZ 83/3
Francis Picabia
“Untitled”, ca. 1949–1950
Ink on paper
8 1/4 x 10 3/4 inches
21 x 27 cm
PIZ 83/4
Francis Picabia
“Espagnole”, ca. 1923–1927
Watercolour, ink, pencil on paper mounted on board
32 3/4 x 27 1/4 inches
83.5 x 69 cm
PIZ 102
Francis Picabia
“Espagnole”, ca. 1924–1927
Watercolour, ink, pencil on paper
15 1/2 x 12 1/2 inches
39.5 x 32 cm
PIZ 116
Francis Picabia
“Untitled”, ca. 1934–1935
Ink, charcoal on paper
10 1/2 x 14 inches
27 x 36 cm
PIZ 135
Francis Picabia
“Tête de femme”, 1936
Pencil on paper
10 3/4 x 8 inches
27 x 21 cm
PIZ 138
Francis Picabia
“Espagnole”, ca. 1922–1926
Watercolour, ink, pencil on paper
25 1/2 x 19 1/4 inches
64.5 x 49 cm
PIZ 140
Francis Picabia
“Untitled (Visage de femme)”, 1936
Pencil on paper
12 1/2 x 9 1/4 inches
31.5 x 23.5 cm
PIZ 141
Francis Picabia
“Tête de femme”, ca. 1942
Pencil on paper
10 3/4 x 8 1/4 inches
27.5 x 21 cm
PIZ 151
Francis Picabia
“Untitled”, ca. 1941–1942
Charcoal on paper
11 1/2 x 9 1/4 inches
29 x 23.5 cm
PIZ 152
Francis Picabia
“Untitled”, 1946
Charcoal on paper
11 3/4 x 9 1/4 inches
30 x 23.5 cm
PIZ 153
Francis Picabia
“Untitled”, ca. 1940–1942
Pencil on paper
13 3/4 x 8 3/4 inches
35 x 22 cm
PIZ 154
Francis Picabia
“Espagnole”, ca. 1926
Watercolour, ink, gouache, pencil on paper
33 3/4 x 26 inches
86 x 66 cm
PIZ 155
Francis Picabia
“Untitled (Portrait de Greta Garbo)”, ca. 1940–1942
Gouache, charcoal, pencil on paper
10 3/4 x 8 1/4 inches
27 x 21 cm
PIZ 156
Francis Picabia
“Untitled (Tête de femme)”, ca. 1940–1941
Pencil, gouache on paper
15 3/4 x 11 1/2 inches
40 x 29 cm
PIZ 158
Francis Picabia
“Tête de femme”, ca. 1941–1942
Pencil, gouache on paper
10 1/4 x 7 3/4 inches
26 x 20 cm
PIZ 159
Francis Picabia
Untitled ca. 1940–1942
Charcoal, pencil, gouache on paper
16 1/4 x 11 1/4 inches
41.5 x 28.5 cm
PIZ 160
Francis Picabia
“Untitled (Portrait de Greta Garbo)”, ca. 1933–1934
Pencil on paper
11 1/2 x 7 1/2 inches
29.5 x 19.5 cm
PIZ 161
Francis Picabia
“Untitled”, ca. 1941–1943
Charcoal, gouache on paper
16 1/4 x 12 1/4 inches
41 x 31 cm
PIZ 162
Francis Picabia
“Untitled (Visage de femme)”, ca. 1940–1942
Pencil, gouache on paper
14 1/2 x 12 1/2 inches
37 x 31.5 cm
PIZ 163
Francis Picabia
“Untitled (Tête de femme)”, 1921
Ink, pencil, gouache on paper
24 3/4 x 19 inches
63 x 48 cm
PIZ 164
Francis Picabia
“Untitled (Portrait de femme)”, ca. 1941-1943
Charcoal on paper
6 1/2 x 4 3/4 inches
16.5 x 12 cm
PIZ 166
Francis Picabia
“Victoire française”, 1940
Pencil, charcoal, watercolour, gouache
on paper mounted on cardboard
16 1/2 x 12 1/4 inches
41.5 x 31.5 cm
PIZ 167
