Name: Composition, Le Peseur d'âmes (The Weigher of Souls), Francis Picabia
Brand: Francis Picabia
Rating: 4.8 (74 reviews)

About the Item

Lithograph and stencil on vélin d'Arches paper. Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. Good Condition. Notes: From the volume, Le Peseur d'âmes, précédé d'un frontispice et suivi de huit illustrations de Francis Picabia, 1931. Published by Antoine Roche, éditeur, Paris; printed by Daniel Jacomet et Cie, Paris, December 8, 1931. Excerpted from the folio (translated from French), Printing of this book has been finished on December 8, 1931, by Ducros & Colas, master printers in Paris for typography. The illustrations were printed by Daniel Jacomet. The draw has been limited to: I example on Japon Impérial, with an original watercolor of Picabia and a double suite in black and color of illustrations on vélin d'Arches, numbered I. VIII examples on Japon Impérial, with an original watercolor and a suite, numbered from II to IX. IX examples on Japon Impérial, with a suite, numbered from X to XVIII. VI examples hors commerce, brands from A to F. XVIII examples on Hollande van Gelder Zonen, with a suite, numbered from XIX to XXXVI. VI examples hors commerce, marked from G to I. CCXCIV examples on vélin d'Arches, numbered from XXXVII to CCCXXX. XXIV copies hors commerce, marked from A to X. FRANCIS PICABIA (1879-1953) was a French avant-garde painter, writer, filmmaker, magazine publisher, poet, and typographist closely associated with Dada. At various points in his life, Picabia supported himself through his dealings in the art market, focusing on buying and selling works by his fellow avant-gardists. For all the ire that Picabia directed toward Cubist art in his Dada manifestos, he purchased important examples of Cubism throughout his career as a dealer. He bought Picasso’s newspaper collage Bottle and Wine Glass on a Table (1912; The Metropolitan Museum of Art) from the Galerie Kahnweiler before 1914. Picabia then sold it to Alfred Stieglitz for $150 while in New York in 1915 traveling in service of the French Army. Picabia then deserted the military and spent the war years living in New York and, later, Barcelona, spreading the gospel of modernism internationally through his numerous publications and exhibits. Tzara recalls that Picabia was one of the buyers at the famous Kahnweiler sequestration sales of 1921 to 1923, where the German-born dealer’s collection of works by Picasso, Georges Braque, Juan Gris, and Fernand Léger were sold off after being seized by the French government during World War I.

Creator:
Francis Picabia (1879-1953, French)
Creation Year:
1931
Dimensions:
Height: 10.313 in (26.2 cm)Width: 8.75 in (22.23 cm)
Medium:
Lithograph,Stencil
Movement & Style:
Modern
Period:
1930-1939
Condition:
Gallery Location:
Southampton, NY
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU1465214837982