Francis Picabia

Galerie Mona-Lisa, Paris
Mme Paimparay, Paris
Galerie Neuendorf, Hamburg
Charles Saatchi, London
Acquired from the above by the present owner in the 1980s

Paris, Galerie René Drouin, 50 ans de plaisirs, 1949, no. 33 (titled Coquetterie and as dating from 1922)
Paris, Galerie Mona-Lisa, Picabia vu en transparence, 1961, no. 26, illustrated in the catalogue
Düsseldorf, Städtische Kunsthalle; Zurich, Kunsthaus & Stockholm, Moderna Museet, Francis Picabia, 1983-84, no. 53, illustrated in colour in the catalogue (titled Coquetterie and as dating from 1922)

This Quarter, vol. 1, no. 3, Monte Carlo, Spring 1927
Eva Menzio & Maurizio Fagiolo, Album Picabia, Turin, 1975, illustrated p. 34
Maria Lluïsa Borràs, Picabia, London, 1985, fig. 605, cat. 442, illustrated in colour p. 320 and illustrated in colour on the dust-jacket (titled Under the Olive Trees and as dating from 1926)

The board is stable. Apart from spots and areas of retouching at intervals at all four edges which are covering areas of fracture in the paint surface, visible under ultra-violet light, this work is in good condition. Colours: Overall fairly accurate, although more vibrant in the original.
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Under the Olive Trees belongs to one of the most celebrated bodies of work in Picabia's œuvre, the so-called 'monster' paintings dating from the mid-1920s. Having broken off from the official Surrealist movement, in 1925 Picabia left Paris and moved to the Midi, where he built the Château de Mai. Enjoying the splendour offered by this new environment at the South of France, his creativity received a new impetus, and the artist spent his days painting in the vast studio of the Château. This renewed interest in the medium of painting resulted in works executed in ripolin paint applied with great verve, with subjects often based on society figures he came in contact with. Picabia himself attached great importance to this group of works: for the Spring 1927 edition of the review This Quarter, devoted to him, the artist himself selected thirteen 'monster' paintings for publication, including Under the Olive Trees. 

 

The present work is one of the most remarkable of Picabia's 'Couples', highly stylised depictions of men and women with romantic references, often embracing (figs. 1 & 2). Here, the figures are rendered in brilliant, strong colours applied with a great sense of energy. After his experimentations with various media and techniques that characterised his Dada years, in the mid-1920s Picabia's rejoiced in the act of painting, using simplified signs, such as circles, crosses and zig-zag lines that can be seen as a legacy of his Dada style. The abstract, geometric forms and lines painted in black and white and in strong, bright colours, are used to signify various elements of the composition, a style that came to be known as signic automatism. Maria Lluïsa Borràs wrote about this group of works that includes Under the Olive Trees: 'This protracted series of couples transformed into notable examples of signic automatism may have had its origin in the film and play reviews that filled so many pages of Comoedia, which were nearly always illustrated by photographs of the two leading characters in the work under review – almost invariably represented with their heads very close together' (M. L. Borràs, op. cit., p. 290).

 

Although not officially a member of Breton's group, Picabia continued to work in the field of automatism, central to the Surrealists' ideology. Borràs further commented about the unique pictorial language Picabia developed during this period: '... the eye is simply replaced by the sign of an eye. In these works, now known as his 'monsters', Picabia created a new language that enhanced sign and rhythm over and above any other pictorial element, such as line, mass or colour, freeing the hand from all control by reason in such a way that it seemed to be receiving its impulse from the subconscious. He transformed the traditional portrait of a lady with her hand on her breast into the basis of a completely new language, as far removed from Renaissance perspective as it was from Cubist dogmatism. [...] The number of works extant in this style permit us to assert that on Picabia's part this was neither a passing whim nor a chance experiment; it was, on the contrary, the result of a firm intention to explore this new mode and new language to its ultimate consequences' (ibid., p. 289).

Fig. 1, Francis Picabia, Veglione, circa 1924-27, oil and ripolin on canvas
Fig. 2, Francis Picabia, Première rencontre, circa 1924-27, oil and ripolin on board, Moderna Museet, Stockholm
Fig. 3, Francis Picabia and Marie Laurencin, Barcelona, 1916