Femmes Espagnoles

Author: Marijke Peyser

In 1925 Francis Picabia decided to build a villa in the South of France with the money he had inherited from his uncle, Maurice Davanne. A long-cherished dream was fulfilled: to escape from the dull, grey north and live permanently in the sunny south. The artist bought a plot of land near Mougins and designed the house himself: a spacious, tranquil studio, living rooms surrounded by large terraces that invited sunbathing and a swimming pool. Picabia and his lover Germaine called the villa Château de Mai.^[1] It soon became a meeting place for artists and friends. In September 1926 the society newspaper La Saison de Cannes reported that in his professional capacity Picabia was organizing splendid galas.^[2] Although life for Picabia was a succession of dinners, parties and chic events, like taking part in the annual Concours d’Elégance en Automobile, he also spent whole days in his studio. His work there included popular scenes from Spanish life, inspired by a previous stay in Barcelona during the First World War.

Picabia’s first exhibition on the Riviera took place in 1927, in the middle of ‘le beau monde’. In Cannes’ chic Cercle Nautique there were eighty of his works on display and for sale. The works were carefully selected to take account of the conservative taste of the genteel and ultra-rich visitors. In reviews in the local press Picabia was both slated as well as praised: ‘M. Francis Picabia is presenting a strangely eclectic collection of canvases. Only some of them really held my attention, but what works they are! Enough to make up for all the mistakes of the past and to oblige me to make amends. These pieces are more than sufficient proof of the excellent quality of this artist’s work when he is prepared to be true to himself instead of exploring paths that have little to do with art … These faces of his Spanish ladies are exquisite in their youthful freshness’.^[3] That a non-conformist like Picabia also made works like the gouache Femmes Espagnoles illustrates how he continually sought out the interface between art and kitsch and so also poked fun at his public.^[4]

In November of 1927 he showed highly innovative work at Galerie Van Leer in Paris. André Breton and his companions made no secret of their admiration for these works.^[5] Among other things their enthusiasm focused on Midi (1924-25), a landscape in Southern France, which was made with Ripolin (a brand of house paint), feathers, macaroni and leather on canvas. Portrait (de Poincaré?) (c. 1924-26) may be a likeness of the French politician Raymond Poincaré. Picabia made a frivolous portrayal of the Frenchman, using Ripolin, combs, thread, curtain rings, a tape measure, toothpicks, pens and erasers on canvas. The unconventional use of materials and character of these works perfectly reflect the starting points of the Surrealists and is entirely different from his paintings of voluptuous Spanish women.