exhibition

Exhibition of Studies made in New York, by Francois Picabia, of Paris

The first one-man show of Picabia's in America
ID: 551, Status: completed
Exhibition period:
Mar 17‒Apr 5, 1913
Type:
solo
Organizing Bodies:
Photo-Secession Galleries
Quickstats
Catalogue Entries: 16
Types of Work: unknown: 16
Artists: 1
Gender: female: 0, male: 1
Nationalities: 1
collapse all Catalogue View List View
Date Title City Venue Type
Date Title City Venue # of common Artists
Feb 10‒25, 1905 Exposition d'Oeuvres de Picabia Paris Galerie Haussmann 1 artists
Feb 1‒15, 1907 Exposition F. Picabia Paris Galerie Haussmann 1 artists
Mar 7‒8, 1909 Tableaux, aquarelles, dessins, gravures, eaux-fortes par F. Picabia Paris Hôtel Drouot 1 artists
Oct 10‒30, 1912 Salon de la "Section d'Or" Paris Galerie La Boëtie 1 artists
Jun 15‒Jul 15, 1912 Société Normande de Peinture Moderne Rouen Grand Skating Rouennais 1 artists
Nov 20‒Dec 16, 1911 Exposition d'Art Contemporain / Société Normande de Peinture Moderne 2me exposition Paris Galerie d'Art Ancien & d'Art Contemporain 1 artists
Apr 28‒May 19, 1913 International Exhibition of Modern Art [Armory Show] Boston Copley Hall 1 artists
May 16‒Jun 7, 1914 Exposition d'Œuvres de Sculpture et de Peinture du Salon des Artistes Indépendants de Paris Brussels Galerie Georges Giroux 1 artists
Sep 20‒Dec 1, 1913 Der Sturm. Erster Deutscher Herbstsalon Berlin Lepke-Räume 1 artists
May‒Jun 1914 De 3de Internationale Jury-Vrije Tentoonstelling. Vereeniging van Beeldende Kunstnaars Amsterdam Vereenining van Beeldene Kunstenaars "De Onafhankelijken". Tentoonstellingsgebou 1 artists
Mar 24‒Apr 16, 1913 International Exhibition of Modern Art [Armory Show] Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago 1 artists
Feb 17‒Apr 15, 1906 Internationale Kunstausstellung Bremen Bremen Kunsthalle Bremen 1 artists
Feb 17‒Mar 15, 1913 International Exhibition of Modern Art [Armory Show] New York Armory of the 69th Infantry 1 artists
Oct 18‒Nov 25, 1905 Salon d'Automne. 3e Exposition Paris Grand Palais des Champs Elysées 1 artists
Opening Hours
mon - sat: 10am - 6pm
Catalogue
Exhibition of Studies made in New York, by Francois Picabia, of Paris,. - the first one-man show of Picabia’s in America. New York 1913.
Nr. of pages: [PDF page number: 7].
Holding Institution: Munson Williams Proctor Arts Institute
Preface
Francois Picabia: Preface, 2 p.


“PREFACE
ART IS ONE OF THE MEANS BY WHICH MEN COMMUNICATE WITH EACH OTHER AND OBJECTIVISE THE DEEPEST CONTACT OF THEIR PERSONALITY WITH NATURE. THIS EXPRESSION IS NECESSARILY RELATED TO THE NEEDS OF THE CIVILISATION OF THE TIME. IT HAS ITS CONVENTIONS AS HAS ANY MEANS OF EXPRESSION. ITS CONVENTIONS ARE THE LIMITATION OF THE PERSONALITY OF THE ARTIST, A LIMITATION WHICH MAN TENDS TO EXTEND, AS HE TENDS TO REMOVE ALL LIMITATIONS TO HIS PERCEPTION. JUST AS THE SIMPLE AND DIRECT PERCEPTION OF THE OUTSIDE WORLD DOES NOT SATISFY US ANY LONGER, AND WE TRY TO GO DEEPER INTO THE ESSENCE AND QUALITY OF THIS SIMPLE PERCEPTION, SO HAVE OUR FEELINGS TOWARDS NATURE BECOME MORE COMPLICATED, AND SIMILARLY THE EXPRESSION OF THESE FEELINGS.

THE OBJECTIVE REPRESENTATION OF NATURE THROUGH WHICH THE PAINTER USED TO EXPRESS THE MYSTERIOUS FEELINGS OF HIS EGO IN FRONT OF HIS SUBJECT " MOTIVE" NO LONGER SUFFICE FOR THE FULNESS OF HIS NEW CONSCIOUSNESS
OF NATURE. THIS REPRESENTATION BEARS NO LONGER A RELATIONSHIP TO HIS NEW CONCEPTION OF LIFE, AND HAS BECOME NOT ONLY A LIMITATION BUT A DEFORMATION. "THE OBJECTIVE REPRESENTATION OF NATURE IS A DEFORMATION OF OUR PRESENT CONCEPTION OF NATURE."

REALITY IMPOSES ITSELF UPON US NOT ONLY UNDER A SPECIAL FORM BUT EVEN MORE UNDER A QUALITATIVE FORM.

FOR EXAMPLE: WHEN WE LOOK AT A TREE WE ARE CONSCIOUS NOT ONLY OF ITS OUTSIDE APPEARANCE BUT ALSO OF SOME OF ITS PROPERTIES, ITS QUALITIES, AND ITS EVOLUTION. OUR FEELINGS BEFORE THIS TREE ARE THE RESULT OF THIS KNOWLEDGE ACQUIRED BY EXPERIENCE THROUGH ANALYSIS; HENCE THE COMPLEXITY OF THIS FEELING CANNOT BE EXPRESSED SIMPLY BY OBJECTIVE AND MECHANICAL REPRESENTATION.

THE QUALITATIVE CONCEPTION OF REALITY CAN NO LONGER BE EXPRESSED IN A PURELY VISUAL OR OPTICAL MANNER; AND IN CONSEQUENCE PICTORIAL EXPRESSION HAS HAD TO ELIMINATE MORE AND MORE OBJECTIVE FORMULAE FROM ITS CONVENTION IN ORDER TO RELATE ITSELF TO THE QUALITATIVE CONCEPTION.

THE RESULTING MANIFESTATIONS OF THIS STATE OF MIND WHICH IS MORE AND MORE APPROACHING ABSTRACTION, CAN THEMSELVES NOT BE ANYTHING BUT ABSTRACTION. THEY SEPARATE THEMSELVES FROM THE SENSORIAL PLEA- [n.p.]

SURE WHICH MAN MAY DERIVE FROM MAN OR NATURE (IMPRESSIONISM) TO ENTER THE DOMAIN OF THE PURE JOY OF THE IDEA AND CONSCIOUSNESS.

BUT EXPRESSION MEANS OBJECTIVITY OTHERWISE CONTACT BETWEEN BEINGS WOULD BECOME IMPOSSIBLE, LANGUAGE WOULD LOSE ALL MEANING. THIS NEW EXPRESSION IN PAINTING IS "THE OBJECTIVITY OF A SUBJECTIVITY." WE CAN MAKE OURSELVES BETTER UNDERSTOOD BY COMPARING IT TO MUSIC.

IF WE GRASP WITHOUT DIFFICULTY THE MEANING AND THE LOGIC OF A MUSICAL WORK IT IS BECAUSE THIS WORK IS BASED ON THE LAWS OF HARMONY AND COMPOSITION OF WHICH WE HAVE EITHER THE ACQUIRED KNOWLEDGE OR THE INHERITED KNOWLEDGE. THESE LAWS ARE THE OBJECTIVITY OF PAINTING UP TO THE PRESENT TIME. THE NEW FORM OF PAINTING PUZZLES THE PUBLIC ONLY BECAUSE IT DOES NOT FIND IN IT THE OLD OBJECTIVITY AND DOES NOT YET GRASP THE NEW OBJECTIVITY. THE LAWS OF THIS NEW CONVENTION HAVE AS YET BEEN HARDLY FORMULATED BUT THEY WILL BECOME GRADUALLY MORE DEFINED JUST AS MUSICAL LAWS HAVE BECOME MORE DEFINED AND THEY WILL VERY RAPIDLY BECOME AS UNDERSTANDABLE AS WERE THE OBJECTIVE REPRESENTATION OF NATURE. THEREFORE, IN MY PAINTINGS THE PUBLIC IS NOT TO LOOK FOR A "PHOTOGRAPHIC" RECOLLECTION OF A VISUAL IMPRESSION OR SENSATION, BUT TO LOOK AT THEM AS BUT AN ATTEMPT TO EXPRESS THE PUREST PART OF THE ABSTRACT REALITY OF FORM AND COLOR IN ITSELF.
NEW YORK, MARCH, 1913. FRANClS PICABIA.

EXTRACT FROM PLATO'S DIALOGUES-PHILEBUS*.

SOCRATES: WHAT I AM SAYING IS NOT, INDEED, DIRECTLY OBVIOUS. I MUST THEREFORE TRY TO MAKE IT CLEAR. FOR I WILL ENDEAVOR TO SPEAK OF THE BEAUTY OF FIGURES, NOT AS THE MAJORITY OF PERSONS UNDERSTAND THEM SUCH AS THOSE OF ANIMALS, AND SOME PAINTINGS TO THE LIFE; BUT AS REASON SAYS, I ALLUDE TO SOMETHING STRAIGHT AND ROUND, AND THE FIGURES FORMED FROM THEM BY THE TURNER'S LATHE, BOTH SUPERFICIAL AND SOLID AND THOSE BY THE PLUMB-LINE AND THE ANGLE-RULE, IF YOU UNDERSTAND ME. FOR THESE, I SAY, ARE NOT BEAUTIFUL FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AS OTHER THINGS ARE; BUT ARE BY NATURE EVER BEAUTIFUL BY THEMSELVES, AND POSSESS CERTAIN PECULIAR PLEASURES, NOT AT ALL SIMILAR TO THOSE FROM SCRATCHING; AND COLORS POSSESSING THIS CHARACTER ARE BEAUTIFUL AND HA VE SIMILAR PLEASURES.

* PUBLISHED IN CAMERA WORK, NO. 36.” [n.p.]
Note
- "Picabia exhibition at the Little Gallery of the Photo-Secession [...]", n.p.
- All entries (cat. no. 1-16) are under the header: "List of Studies".
- Exhibition announcement holding institution: RBC 1318, Rare Book Collection, Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute, Utica NY

+Gender Distribution (Pie Chart)

+Artists’ Age at Exhibition Start(Bar Chart)

+Artists’ Nationality(Pie Chart)

+Exhibiting Cities of Artists(Pie Chart)

+Catalogue Entries by Type of Work(Pie Chart)

+Catalogue Entries by Nationality(Pie Chart)

Name Date of Birth Date of Death Nationality # of Cat. Entries
Francis Picabia 1879 1953 FR 16
Recommended Citation: "Exhibition of Studies made in New York, by Francois Picabia, of Paris." In Database of Modern Exhibitions (DoME). European Paintings and Drawings 1905-1915. Last modified Sep 22, 2019. https://exhibitions.univie.ac.at/exhibition/551