Francis Picabia

French painter and writer (1879-1953)

Francis Picabiawas a French avant-garde painter, writer, filmmaker, magazine publisher, poet, and typographist closely associated with Dada.
When considering the many styles that Picabia painted in, observers have described his career as “shape-shifting” or “kaleidoscopic”.

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About the Francis Picabia

Francis Picabiawas a French avant-garde painter, writer, filmmaker, magazine publisher, poet, and typographist closely associated with Dada.

When considering the many styles that Picabia painted in, observers have described his career as “shape-shifting” or “kaleidoscopic”. After experimenting with Impressionism and Pointillism, Picabia became associated with Cubism. His highly abstract planar compositions were colourful and rich in contrasts. He was one of the early major figures of the Dada movement in the United States and in France before denouncing it in 1921. He was later briefly associated with Surrealism, but would soon turn his back on the art establishment.

18 Quotes by Francis Picabia

  1. 1.

    Maybe men are separated from each other only by the degree of their misery.

    Francis Picabia

    French painter and writer (1879-1953)

  2. 2.

    A free spirit takes liberties even with liberty itself.

    Francis Picabia

    French painter and writer (1879-1953)

  3. 3.

    My arse contemplates those who talk behind my back.

    Francis Picabia

    French painter and writer (1879-1953)

  4. 4.

    God invented concubinage, satan marriage.

    Francis Picabia

    French painter and writer (1879-1953)

  5. 5.

    Only useless things are indispensable.

    Francis Picabia

    French painter and writer (1879-1953)

  6. 6.

    Pain has its reasons, pleasure is totally indifferent.

    Francis Picabia

    French painter and writer (1879-1953)

  7. 7.

    Youth doesn’t reason, it acts. The old man reasons and would like to make the others act in his place.

    Francis Picabia

    French painter and writer (1879-1953)

  8. 8.

    If you want to have clean ideas, change them as often as your shirt.

    Francis Picabia

    French painter and writer (1879-1953)

  9. 9.

    My ass contemplates those who talk behind my back.

    Francis Picabia

    French painter and writer (1879-1953)

  10. 10.

    Between my head and my hand, there is always the face of death.

    Francis Picabia

    French painter and writer (1879-1953)

  11. 11.

    The family spirit has rendered man carnivorous.

    Francis Picabia

    French painter and writer (1879-1953)

  12. 12.

    Men have always need of god! A god to defend them against other men.

    Francis Picabia

    French painter and writer (1879-1953)

  13. 13.

    The world is divided into two categories: failures and unknowns.

    Francis Picabia

    French painter and writer (1879-1953)

  14. 14.

    A new gadget that lasts only five minutes is worth more than an immortal work that bores everyone.

    Francis Picabia

    French painter and writer (1879-1953)

  15. 15.

    Good taste is as tiring as good company.

    Francis Picabia

    French painter and writer (1879-1953)

  16. 16.

    Let us never forget that the greatest man is never more than an animal disguised as a god.

    Francis Picabia

    French painter and writer (1879-1953)

  17. 17.

    Knowledge is ancient error reflecting on its youth.

    Francis Picabia

    French painter and writer (1879-1953)

  18. 18.

    The essence of a man is found in his faults.

    Francis Picabia

    French painter and writer (1879-1953)