Picabia, Composition, Du cubisme (after)
1947

About the Item

Drypoint on vélin du Lana Papiers Spéciaux pure rag paper. Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. Good Condition. Notes: From the folio, Du Cubisme, 1947. Published by Compagnie Française des Arts Graphiques, Paris; printed by R. Girard et Cie, Paris, 1947. Excerpted from the folio (translated from French), Du Cubisme was completed to print on July 31, 1947. The draw includes, No. 1, Copy on paper from Auvergne with a few states and two suites of the plates; No. 2 to 20, Copies on paper from Auvergne with two suites of the plates; No. 21 to 35, Copies on paper from Auvergne with a series of plates; Nos 36 to 435. Copies on pure Lana thread paper; In addition, it was printed 20 copies on Lana paper numbered in Roman numerals for the Legal Deposit and collaborators. FRANCIS PICABIA (1879-1953) was a French avant-garde painter, writer, filmmaker, magazine publisher, poet, and typographist closely associated with Dada. At various points in his life, Picabia supported himself through his dealings in the art market, focusing on buying and selling works by his fellow avant-gardists. For all the ire that Picabia directed toward Cubist art in his Dada manifestos, he purchased important examples of Cubism throughout his career as a dealer. He bought Picasso’s newspaper collage Bottle and Wine Glass on a Table (1912; The Metropolitan Museum of Art) from the Galerie Kahnweiler before 1914. Picabia then sold it to Alfred Stieglitz for $150 while in New York in 1915 traveling in service of the French Army. Picabia then deserted the military and spent the war years living in New York and, later, Barcelona, spreading the gospel of modernism internationally through his numerous publications and exhibits. Tzara recalls that Picabia was one of the buyers at the famous Kahnweiler sequestration sales of 1921 to 1923, where the German-born dealer’s collection of works by Picasso, Georges Braque, Juan Gris, and Fernand Léger were sold off after being seized by the French government during World War I.

Creation Year:

1947

Dimensions:

Height: 10.063 in (25.56 cm)Width: 8.25 in (20.96 cm)

Medium:

Drypoint

Movement & Style:

Modern

After:

Francis Picabia (1879-1953, French)

Period:

1940-1949