Francis Picabia

Éternel recommencement / Eternal Beginning

18 January – 8 March 2025 

Paris

In collaboration with the Comité Picabia, we will present an exhibition of post-war artworks by Francis Picabia at our Paris gallery this January. Curated by Beverley Calté and Arnauld Pierre, this will be the first major solo exhibition exclusively exploring Picabia’s unique final period, created after his return to Paris in 1945 until the year before his death in 1953.

Often overshadowed by other periods of his oeuvre, Picabia’s last series saw the artist abandon his famous wartime Nudes, heralding a new era of nonfigurative art, coupled with a particular interest in surface texture and new sources of inspiration. Characteristic of Picabia’s restless artistic talent, forever changing directions, these paintings represent his own definitions of abstraction, creating a new visual language which distinctly sets this bold group of works apart from anything he had done before.

The exhibition catalogue illustrating Picabia’s visually imposing works also contextualises his very personal position within the vibrant post-war Parisian art scene and the rise of art informel. This bilingual publication by Hauser & Wirth Publishers includes essays by Arnauld Pierre and Candace Clements, with an introductory preface from Beverley Calté, President of the Comité Picabia.

This exhibition, which contains over 40 works by the artist, will travel to our New York, 22nd Street gallery from 1 May – 25 July 2025.

Francis Picabia, Rapport avec les vertus (In Relation to the Virtues) (detail), 1948. Oil on canvas, 92.5 x 73.5 cm / 36 3/8 x 28 7/8 inches / 100 x 80 x 5 cm / 39 3/8 x 31 1/2 x 2 inches (framed)

Current Exhibitions