Francis Picabia
Subtitle: our heads are round so our thoughts can change direction
By: Anne Umland and Cathérine Hug ; with essays by George Baker [and 12 others]
Contributors: Hug, Catherine, 1976- author; Picabia, Francis, 1879-1953, artist; Baker, George (George Thomas), 1970- writer of essay; Museum of Modern Art (New York, N.Y.); Kunsthaus Zürich
Publisher: Museum of Modern Art; The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Published: 2016
Language: eng
Number of pages: 368
ISBN-13: 9781633450035
Copyright date: 2016
Subjects: Exhibitions
Description: Among the great modern artists of the past century, Picabia is one of the most elusive, given his extreme eclecticism and persistent acts of self-contradiction. Though known as a Dadaist, Picabia's ongoing stylistic shifts, from Impressionism to radical abstraction, from mechanical imagery to pseudo-classicism, and from photo-based realism to art informel remain to be assessed in depth. Similarly, the breadth of his practice, which encompassed poetry, film and performance is under-recognized. Each makes him a figure relevant for contemporary artists, while the career as a whole challenges familiar narratives of modernism. Francis Picabia presents over 100 paintings, complemented by works on paper, publications, and film. Featuring some 500 illustrations and 14 essays, it examines the full range of Picabia's oeuvre.
Notes: Published in conjunction with the exhibition held at the Kunsthaus Zürich, June 3-September 25, 2016, and at The Museum of Modern Art, New York, November 20, 2016-March 19, 2017.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 361-364).
Table of contents: title: Foreword / -- Glenn D. Lowry and Christoph Becker -- Acknowledgments / -- Anne Umland and Cathérine Hug; title: Francis Picabia: an introduction  -- Anne Umland; title: Francis Picabia, once removed  -- Gordon Hughes; title: The body after cubism  -- George Baker; title: War, exile, and the machine  -- Adrian Sudhalter; title: "I'm feeling somewhat better"  -- Juri Steiner; title: Picabia's worldliness  -- Briony Fer; title: Relâche and the music hall  -- Carole Boulbès; title: Francis "Funny Guy" Picabia and Entr'acte  -- Jean-Jacques Lebel; title: Art = Sun = Destruction  -- Aurélie Verdier; title: The secret recesses of Picabia's transparencies  -- Masha Chlenova; title: More powerful, more simple, more human painting  -- Bernard Marcadé; title: Francis Picabia's "war"  -- Michèle C. Cone; title: Painting, poetry, and impudent correspondence  -- Carole Boulbès; title: "The sacrilege of the points": Francis Picabia's quasi-monochromes and the return of dada  -- Arnauld Pierre; title: Jokes and their relation to modern art: Picabia's painting  -- David Joselit; title: Picabia after Picabia  -- Cathérine Hug; title: Pharamousse, funny guy, Picabia the loser: the life of Francis Picabia -- Rachel Silveri-- Checklist of the exhibition /-- Natalie Depêcher with Talia Kwartler.