Pablo Picasso
Pablo Picasso was a Spanish artist whose career ranged from the Blue and Rose periods through Cubism, Surrealism, sculpture, printmaking, and ceramics.
Painter
Francis Picabia
Francis Picabia was a French avant-garde painter associated with Dada, shifting among machine imagery, abstraction, and playful visual provocation.
Francis Picabia quick facts
Picabia moved from early abstraction into irreverent machine imagery during Dada, sometimes using unconventional pigments and constructed supports.
| Full name | François Marie Martinez Picabia |
|---|---|
| Born | 1879 · Paris, France |
| Died | 1953 · Paris, France |
| Nationality | French |
| Movements | Dada; earlier Cubist-influenced abstraction |
| Paint types | Oil paint · Gouache · Watercolor · Metallic paint |
| Other media | Dada journals, printed material, poetry, and experimental film |
| Other materials | Silver and gold leaf, wooden elements, and painted frame in Very Rare Picture on the Earth |
| Painting surfaces | Canvas · Paper · Painting Board |
| Painting methods | Reworked oil abstractions, mixed gouache-and-watercolor studies, and metallic coatings with attached wood and metal leaf |
| Common subjects | Machines, abstract forms, dancers, imaginary mechanical devices, and satirical figures |
| Notable works | The Spring · I See Again in Memory My Dear Udnie · Very Rare Picture on the Earth · Dada Movement |
Sources: MoMA: Francis Picabia, MoMA: The Spring, MoMA: New York, gouache and watercolor, MoMA: Fuel Pump, Guggenheim: Very Rare Picture on the Earth, Guggenheim: artist biography.
Paint types used by Francis Picabia
Picabia used oil for large abstractions, gouache and watercolor on paper, and metallic paint and leaf in mixed-media works with attached forms.
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Oil paint
The Spring (1912) is oil on canvas. Infrared research at MoMA shows that Picabia painted over an earlier composition of three geometric figures, progressively merging figures and background into an uneven, almost unreadable abstraction. Oil also forms part of Very Rare Picture on the Earth (1915), combined there with metallic paint and attached wooden forms.
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Gouache paint
New York (1913), painted during Picabia's extended visit to the city, combines opaque gouache and watercolor with pencil on paper. MoMA links the largely abstract imagery to impressions of the city; the pencil drawing remains a different medium from either water-based paint.
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Watercolor paint
Watercolor is documented alongside gouache and pencil in New York (1913). The fluid, overlapping passages differ from the reworked oil surface of The Spring; this work on paper is not an oil painting or a reproduction of Picabia's later mechanical compositions.
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Metallic paint
For Very Rare Picture on the Earth (1915), Picabia used oil and metallic paint on board, with silver and gold leaf on attached wood. The Guggenheim identifies these as separate materials: metallic paint is a coating, while the leaf consists of applied metal sheets. Together with the built-up wooden elements and painted frame, they make the machinist image unusually object-like.
Sources: MoMA: The Spring, oil and reworking, MoMA: New York, gouache and watercolor, and Guggenheim: Very Rare Picture on the Earth, oil, metallic paint, and metal leaf.
Painting surfaces used by Francis Picabia
Museum records identify canvas and paper among Francis Picabia’s supports; the examples below tie each material to specific works in collections.
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Canvas
Picabia’s paintings include works on canvas, including The Spring (1912). MoMA records the painting as oil on canvas and documents the artist’s revisions beneath its visible image. Canvas also appears in other works, distinct from cardboard and board supports used for drawings and mixed-media assemblages.
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Paper
Picabia’s watercolors and gouaches, including New York (1913), are documented on paper. The sheet combines paint and drawing, unlike the oil-on-canvas The Spring. Museum records identify paper as the support for these mixed-media works. MoMA identifies paper directly as the support for this mixed-media sheet.
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Painting Board
Picabia also used painting board for selected works and studies, including the board support recorded for Very Rare Picture on the Earth. The rigid panel carries oil, metallic paint, and attached wooden elements. This is a constructed object surface distinct from his canvases and paper sheets.
Sources: MoMA: Francis Picabia, MoMA: The Spring, MoMA: New York, gouache and watercolor, MoMA: Fuel Pump, Guggenheim: Very Rare Picture on the Earth.
Painters similar to Francis Picabia
Picabia's early abstractions intersected with Picasso's Cubist experiments and the color-focused modernism developed by Robert Delaunay in Paris.
Robert Delaunay
Robert Delaunay was a French painter associated with Orphism, known for luminous color contrasts, abstract circles, and repeated views of the Eiffel Tower.