Francis Picabia

FRANCIS PICABIA (Paris, 1879-1953).
"Portrait", ca. 1940.
Oil on hardboard.
Signed in the lower right corner.
Work catalogued in "Picabia", Maria Luisa Borrás, Ed. Polígrafa, page 436, ref. 935.
Measurements: 60 x 50 cm; 80 x 68 cm (frame).

This portrait of Francis Picabia, made around 1940, constitutes a fundamental testimony of his controversial and audacious stage of maturity, marked by a return to figuration that defied the conventions of the official avant-garde. In this work, the artist abandons abstraction and transparencies to delve into an aesthetic of kistch and photographic realism, often inspired by the fashion magazines and cinema of the time. The piece is characterized by a direct brushstroke and a palette of warm tones that enhance the sculptural presence of the model, whose face is defined by marked contours and a strategic use of shadows that gives volume and depth to the gaze. Historically, this series of portraits produced during the World War II years in the south of France reflects the chameleon-like nature of Picabia, who used the aesthetics of popular culture to subvert the ideals of classical beauty and question the hierarchy of high art. The composition, which balances the sobriety of the background with the chromatic intensity of the lips and attire, demonstrates a refined technique that seeks emotional immediacy, consolidating this period as one of the most fascinating and revalued by contemporary critics due to its precursor character of pop art and postmodernism.

Francis Picabia was a French avant-garde painter, poet and typographer, a key figure in 20th century modern art for his experimental spirit and constant reinvention. He began his career influenced by the impressionism of Alfred Sisley between 1903 and 1908, went through pointillism and, from 1909, was linked to cubism and the Golden Section (Section d'Or), developing flat compositions, highly abstract, colorful and rich in hallmarks. He was the only member of the Cubist group to personally attend the Armory Show in New York, where Alfred Stieglitz organized a solo exhibition for him in his gallery 291, contributing decisively to the introduction of modern art in the United States. Picabia became one of the first important figures of Dadaism in both the United States and France, noted for his provocative mechanomorphic works and his critical attitude toward the artistic "establishment"; although he briefly associated himself with Surrealism-collaborating with André Breton on the magazine Littérature in 1922-he soon distanced himself from any orthodoxy. In 1925 he returned to figurative painting, in the 1930s he was close to Gertrude Stein and, already in the south of France during the 1940s, he produced an astonishing series of paintings based on photographs from popular magazines; before the end of World War II he returned to Paris, returning to abstraction and poetry. His importance lies in the fact that he embodied, as few others did, the spirit of the avant-garde, influencing the development of conceptual and postmodern art, and today his works are part of major collections such as the MoMA and the Guggenheim in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Tate Gallery in London and the Musée National d'Art Moderne in Paris.