Watercolor and pencil. Signed in the lower right. On wove paper. 24 x 18.7 cm. , size of sheet. [KA].
- Expressive watercolor from the artist's surrealist period. - Francis Picabia is one of the most versatile artists of the 20th century. - With the skull, Picabia refers to the memento mori motif, a recurring theme in art history. - Drawings by Francis Picabia can be found in, among others, the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
With a photo certificate from Mr. Pierre Calté, Comité Picabia, Paris, dated December 17, 2013. The work is registered in the archives of the Comité Francis Picabia under number 3415. We are grateful to the Comité Picabia, Paris, for the kind support in cataloging this lot.
LITERATURE: William A. Camfield, Francis Picabia. Catalogue Raisonné Vol. II 1915-1927, Brussels 2016, cat. no. 980 (illustrated on p. 447) - - Exposition Francis Picabia organised by Emile Fabre, Cercle Nautique, Cannes, January 28-February 7, 1927 (one of 200 drawings with watercolor for the deluxe edition of the exhibition catalog). Artcurial, Paris, Art impressionniste et moderne, October 30, 2013, cat. no. 76 (illustrated).

Picabia pique à Ingres, Musée Ingres Bourdelle, Montauban, July 8 - October 30, 2022 (no cat. number.)

Galerie Jörg Schuhmacher, Frankfurt am Main (2013). Private collection, South Germany (acquired from the above in 2014). Since then family-owned

In good condition. Minimal mount staining and a faint trace of sunning. The upper edge of the sheet is slightly irregularly trimmed. Approximately 1.5 cm below, there is a continuous crease. Faint discoloration in the center of the upper edge of the sheet from a previous mounting. Isolated, tiny handling marks in places.