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Details / Information for Untitled

Untitled

1948

Francis Picabia

(French, 1879–1953)
Culture
France
Medium
oil on cardboard
Measurements
60 x 48.5 cm (23 5/8 x 19 1/8 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of the Alex Katz Foundation 2025.195
Copyright
Copyright
This artwork is known to be under copyright.
Location
225 German Expressionism & Surrealism
Print
?

Did You Know?

Throughout his career, Picabia changed styles so many times that he was described by contemporary critics as "shape-shifting" and "kaleidoscopic."

Description

Over a career that spanned more than 50 years, Francis Picabia became known for inventing and then abandoning one style after another, transitioning repeatedly from figuration to abstraction. His late paintings, made from the end of the Second World War until his death in 1953, were abstract and characterized by simplified elements, pared-down compositions in dark, brooding hues as seen in Untitled.
A vertically oriented oil painting on cardboard features thick, textured swathes of teal and black paint overlapping in layers. Frenetic cyan lines sweep across the surface in wide V-shapes, intermingling with bright yellow highlights. A small green circle sits near the center, while a gray circle rests at the top. White script at the bottom reads "Francis Picabia 1948." The work is enclosed in a dark wood frame.

Untitled

1948

Francis Picabia

(French, 1879–1953)
France

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