FRANCIS PICABIA
Machine Cubiste.
Drypoint on cream wove paper, 1907. 180x130 mm; 7x5 inches, full margins. Edition of 435. Published by Compagnie Française des Arts Graphiques, Paris. From Du Cubisme. A very good impression. Picabia (1879-1953) was born into an affluent family in Paris and was introduced to art at a young age. He studied at the École des Arts Decoratifs under Fernand Cormon, Ferdinand Humbert and Albert Charles Wallet. He subsequently worked for Cormon, a leading artist of historical paintings, for four years alongside Georges Braque (1882-1963) and Marie Laurencin (1883-1956) before turning towards emerging modern styles of the late 19th century. He experimented first with Impressionism and Post Impressionism, but then embraced more avant-garde movements such as Fauvism and Cubism. He is known as an artist who was continuously experimenting with artistic styles and throughout his dynamic career, he also practiced Pointillism, Dadaism and Surrealism. Some of his best-known Dadaist works are the mechanomorphs (created and inspired by his time in New York during the late 1910s), which blended machine imagery with human characteristics. During the period circa 1910-20, he also became closely acquainted with Man Ray (1890-1976) and Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968), both of whom joined him in New York; drugs and alcohol became a problem at this time for Picabia and his health declined. He parted with Dada in 1921, and his style continued to evolve over his career, often later abandoning styles he had previously espoused.