Francis Picabia

Galerie Furstenberg (Simon Collinet), Paris
Barnet Hodes, Chicago (acquired from the above and sold: Christie's, New York, November 12, 1984, lot 24)
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner

This work is in excellent condition. The board is sound. The surface is nicely textured. Some minor frame abrasion visible to bottom right corner. Some extremely minor scratches visible to bottom edge left of center. Under UV light certain original pigments fluoresce, however no inpainting is apparent.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Profil, painted in 1931, belongs to a series known as Transparences, which Picabia executed in the late 1920s and early 1930s, deriving their name from multiple layers of overlapping imagery. The present composition is dominated by two female faces in the center, overlapping with another large-scale female face. These images, simultaneously transparent and opaque, are manipulated by Picabia in scale and orientation in such a way as to create a seemingly impenetrable allegory with characteristics of a dream or a mystic vision. Profil stands apart from many of the other Transparences of this time in its close focus on figure’s faces, the other components of the composition a blend of colors and other abstractions. Indeed the present work seems more in keeping with what William Camfield believes to be the root of this series: “Picabia’s interest in the concept and techniquest of transparency was not a sudden development. Ultimately it derived from preoccupations with simultaneity during the epoch of Cubism and Orphism” (William A. Camfield, Francis Picabia: His Art, Life and Times, Princeton, 1979, p. 229).  

Besides natural phenomena, Picabia's Transparences also draw their inspiration from Romanesque frescos and Renaissance painting. Rich in cultural references, they combine their varied images into compositions of great beauty and harmony. Following his experimentation with Dadaism and abstraction, in the 1920s Picabia turned away from the aesthetic of shock towards a kind of renaissance, creating figurative images of mysterious, contemplative beauty. Despite the wealth of artistic, cultural and natural references, the meanings of these compositions remain deliberately obscure and ambiguous, and their power lies in their evocative beauty and elegance of execution.