#materialstechniques

Francis Picabia’s materials and techniques - "Portrait d’un docteur"

Sometime in 1935, Francis Picabia painted a portrait of Dr. Gaston Raulot-Lapointe (image 1), a friend famous for his research into radiation and X-rays. For years, this painting was thought to have been lost or destroyed, but an X-ray of Picabia's Portrait d’un docteur (1935/c. 1938) (image 2) revealed the original portrait to be hiding beneath its surface (image 3).

This is one of many stories about Picabia's works found in “Francis Picabia: Materials and Techniques.” Read the essays at mo.ma/picabia_conservation

Francis Picabia’s materials and techniques - "Portrait d’un couple"

This photograph, titled Cheekiness of springtime (image 1), and published in Paris Magazine, no. 68 (July 1937), was one of the images that inspired Picabia’s painting Portrait d’un couple (1942–43). Another was a promotional photo of Hollywood stars Andrea Leeds and Joel McCrea (image 2). Picabia took elements from both of these photographs to create Portrait d’un couple (image 3), now on view in Francis Picabia: Our Heads Are Round so Our Thoughts Can Change Direction.

Explore this and other stories about the materials & techniques of Francis Picabia at mo.ma/picabia_conservation. 

Francis Picabia’s materials and techniques - “Edtaonisl (écclesiastique)”

Picabia’s monumental abstract painting Edtaonisl (écclesiastique) (1913) (image 1), includes two unusual pigments: a vivid cobalt violet (image 2) and a metallic gold (image 3). Both are “precious” in different ways. Cobalt violet is expensive to buy and the metallic paint has actual gold particles suspended in the oil paint medium.

All this week we’ll be sharing stories about Francis Picabia’s materials and techniques. Find out more at mo.ma/picabia_conservation.

Francis Picabia’s materials and techniques - "Révérence"

Made in New York during World War I, Révérence (1915) (image 1) is one of Francis Picabia’s earliest machine paintings, and one of many based on photo-mechanical reproductions. This one abstracts a photograph of a dough-mixing machine published in the popular French scientific magazine "La Science et la Vie," no. 9 (December 1913) (image 2).

Learn more about the materials and techniques Francis Picabia used in his artworks at mo.ma/picabia_conservation.

Francis Picabia’s materials and techniques - "Promenade des Anglais (Midi)"

“We FINALLY found the right size macaroni,” (image 1) recalled Jean Volkmer, former Chief Conservator at MoMA, during the restoration of Picabia’s Promenade des Anglais (Midi) (1924–25) (image 2). This view of Nice’s famous beachfront walkway, was a familiar one, often reproduced on tourist postcards. Picabia’s interpretation of it, however, was highly unusual, incorporating bucatini pasta, rhea feathers, and cut-up hair-curlers! Duchamp arranged for the elaborate snakeskin frame, which evokes open window shutters looking out onto the Côte d’Azur.

Explore other stories about the materials & techniques of Francis Picabia at mo.ma/picabia_conservation.