Picabia, Francis

Picabia, Francis
born Jan. 22, 1879, Paris, France
died Nov. 30, 1953, Paris

French painter, illustrator, designer, writer, and editor.

After studying at the École des Beaux-Arts and the École des Arts Décoratifs, he painted for a time in an Impressionist and then a Cubist style. Picabia went on to combine the Cubist style with Orphic elements in such paintings as I See Again in Memory My Dear Udnie (1913–14), to which he gave proto-Dadaist names. About 1916 he began to paint the satiric, machinelike contrivances that are his chief contribution to Dadaism. In 1915 in New York City, Picabia, Marcel Duchamp, and Man Ray together founded an American Dadaist movement. In 1917 Picabia returned to Europe and joined Dadaist movements in Barcelona, Paris, and Zürich. After Dadaism broke up about 1921, he followed the poet André Breton into the Surrealist movement. He subsequently painted in Surrealist, abstract, and figurative styles.

* * *

▪ French artist
born January 22, 1879, Paris, France
died November 30, 1953, Paris
 French painter, illustrator, designer, writer, and editor, who was successively involved with the art movements Cubism, Dada, and Surrealism.

      Picabia was the son of a Cuban diplomat father and a French mother. After studying at the École des Arts Décoratifs (1895–97), he painted for nearly six years in an Impressionist (Impressionism) mode akin to that of Alfred Sisley (Sisley, Alfred). In 1909 he adopted a Cubist (Cubism) style, and, along with Marcel Duchamp (Duchamp, Marcel), he helped found in 1911 the Section d'Or, a group of Cubist artists. Picabia went on to combine the Cubist style with its more lyrical variation known as Orphism in such paintings as I See Again in Memory My Dear Udnie (1913–14) and Edtaonisl (1913). In these early paintings he portrayed assemblages of closely fitted, metallic-looking abstract shapes. As Picabia moved away from Cubism to Orphism, his colours and shapes became softer.

      In 1915 Picabia traveled to New York City, where he, Duchamp, and Man Ray began to develop what became known as an American version of Dada, a nihilistic art movement that flourished in Europe and New York from 1915 to about 1922. In New York Picabia exhibited at Alfred Stieglitz (Stieglitz, Alfred)'s gallery, 291, and contributed to the proto-Dadaist review 291. About 1916 he gave up the Cubist style completely and began to produce the images of satiric, machinelike contrivances that are his chief contribution to Dadaism. The drawing Universal Prostitution (1916–19) and the painting Amorous Procession (1917) are typical of his Dadaist phase; their association of mechanistic forms with sexual allusions were successfully shocking satires of bourgeois values.

      In 1916 Picabia returned to Europe. He settled in Barcelona, where he published the first issues of his own satiric journal 391 (named in reference to the New York review). He subsequently joined Dadaist movements in Paris and Zürich. In 1921 he renounced Dada on the grounds that it was no longer vital and had lost its capacity to shock. In 1925 he left Paris to settle in the south of France, where he experimented with painting in various styles. He returned to live in Paris in 1945, and he spent the final years of his life painting in a mostly abstract mode. Picabia was notable for his inventiveness, adaptability, absurdist humour, and disconcerting changes of style.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Picabia, Francis —    see Martinez de Picabia, Francis …   Dictionary of erotic artists: painters, sculptors, printmakers, graphic designers and illustrators

  • Picabia, Francis — (1879 1953)    painter and writer    Born in Paris, Francis Picabia, who is associated with several avant garde movements, studied at several studios and was especially influenced by alfred sisley. Up to 1907, he painted impressionist landscapes …   France. A reference guide from Renaissance to the Present

  • Picabia, Francis — ► (1879 1953) Pintor francés. Participó en la experiencia dadaísta. Obras: El niño carburador y Máquinas irónicas. * * * (22 ene. 1879, París, Francia–30 nov. 1953, París). Pintor, ilustrador, diseñador, escritor y editor francés. Luego de… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Picabia, Francis — soprannome di Martínez de Picabia de la Torre, Francisco …   Sinonimi e Contrari. Terza edizione

  • Martinez de Picabia, Francis — (1/22/1879 Paris 11/30/1953 Paris) (France); aka pseudonym Picabia, Francis / Picabia, Françoise Marie Martinez Painter, graphic artist, and poet. Studied at the Ecole des Beaux Arts under Fernand Cormon, the Ecole des Arts Decoratifs, the… …   Dictionary of erotic artists: painters, sculptors, printmakers, graphic designers and illustrators

  • Picabia — Picabia, Francis …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Francis Picabia — (* 22. Januar 1879 in Paris; † 30. November 1953 ebenda), eigentlich Francis Marie Martinez Picabia, war ein französischer Schriftsteller, Maler und Grafiker …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Francis Picabia — Francis Marie Martinez de Picabia, né le 22 janvier 1879 à Paris et mort le 30 novembre 1953 dans la même ville, est un peintre, graphiste et écrivain proche des mouvements Dada et surréaliste. Sommaire 1 Biographie 2 …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Picabia — Francis Picabia Francis Marie Martinez de Picabia, né le 22 janvier 1879 à Paris et mort le 30 novembre 1953 dans la même ville, est un peintre, graphiste et écrivain proche des mouvements Dada et surréaliste. Sommaire 1… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Francis Picabia — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Francis Picabia Francis Marie Martínez Picabia (22 de enero, 1879 30 de noviembre, 1953) Pintor francés. Artista vanguardista francés, nacido en París el 22 de enero de 1879, pero de origen cubano. Traba …   Wikipedia Español

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”