Product Review

As irascible as Tzara and as elusive as Duchamp, Francis Picabia (1879–1953) was both the prototypical Dadaist and the most mercurial artist of his generation. This volume, published for the first Austrian retrospective on Picabia, traces the artist through his many phases: from restless apprentice painter oscillating between Fauvism and Cubism to mischievous Dadaist, editor of 391 magazine and best friend to Duchamp; from antagonist of André Breton to ally of Gertude Stein; from advocate of a new machine aesthetics to subversive photorealist painting garish nudes derived from French glamour magazines. Picabia’s bizarre, reckless contradictions and wild contrarianism are amply represented in this substantial, tri-lingual publication, which includes 200 color plates, an extensive and illustrated biography and a complete bibliography, providing the most comprehensive overview of his career currently in print.