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Francis Picabia (French, 1879–1953)
See original version (French)
234
-
Francis Picabia (French, 1879–1953)
See original version (French)
Estimate €20,000 - €30,000
Voluntary lot
Description
Francis Picabia (French, 1879–1953)
Transparence, c. 1932–1933
Untitled
Pencil, charcoal and ink on paper.
Signed in pencil.
H. 35.6 W. 30.5 cm.
Provenance: collection of Bénédicte Joannon (1908–1999), Rhône, passed down through the family.
Picabia. Transparence. Pencil, charcoal and ink on paper. c. 1932–1933.
Certificate from the Picabia Committee dated 23 April 2026.
PICABIA’S ‘TRANSPARENCES’
The ‘Transparences’ are among the most iconic works by an artist who described himself as a ‘painter of all genres’ and who, throughout his life, made it a point of honour never to allow himself to be confined by a particular style, genre, group or dealer. Produced between 1927 and 1932, the ‘Transparences’ illustrate Picabia’s break with the Dada movement, which he had helped to pioneer. The term first appeared during an exhibition at Théophile Briant’s gallery in October 1928. The superimposition of several images, taking as their starting point classical figures by Botticelli or Piero della Francesca and drawing inspiration from the Bible or mythology, and linking antiquity with the modern era within a dreamlike world, led Marcel Duchamp to remark that they ‘express the sensation of the third dimension without the aid of perspective’. Léonce Rosenberge wrote to him: “The Transparences are the union of the visible and the invisible. It is this notion of time, combined with that of space, which precisely constitutes the doctrine of your art. Beyond the fleeting moment, towards infinity—such is your ideal.”
Towards the end of 1929, as he began work on *Judith*, Picabia shifted his source of inspiration and immersed himself in Peter Landow’s collection of photographs, *Natur und Kultur: Das Weib, 120 Aufnahmen*, published in Berlin in 1925. These photographs, whose captions detail the origins of the women depicted as well as the photographer’s notes, fascinated the artist, “who sought to recreate the poses and theatrical lighting of these models in many of his works” (Francis Picabia catalogue raisonné, vol. III, Mercator Collection, p. 59). Picabia is naturally not content with a slavish reproduction of the photograph but appropriates it for the purposes of his own work. Playing on the models’ androgyny, a Swedish woman with an athletic build thus becomes a man. Here, the pose of the model on the right-hand side of the composition is reminiscent of that of an Australian woman on plate 21 of Landow’s work. Discovered hidden behind a canvas from the 1907 Prix de Rome, Marcel Féguide, this drawing was held in the estate of Bénédicte Joannon (1908–1999), a music lover and daughter of an industrialist and politician from the Loire region. It has been very precisely dated to the years 1932–1933 by the Picabia Committee. This was yet another period of upheaval for Picabia: firstly, a romantic break, as his relationship with Olga – who would become his final wife – began; and finally, an artistic break, with the emergence of a figurative style of painting that would later pave the way for Pop Art.
Aymeric Rouillac and Brice Langlois
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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