THE COLLECTION
Silence
Georges Ribemont-Dessaignes (French, 1884-1974)
c. 1915. Oil on canvas, 36 1/4 x 28 7/8" (92.1 x 73.3 cm). Katherine S. Dreier Bequest
189.1953
Dada
June 18–September 11, 2006
In Georges Ribemont-Dessaignes’s machine pictures, painted gears, shafts, and wires create obscure contraptions suggesting that the forces of production have run amok. The words included compound the enigma: the phrases "liquid love" and "surface of soluble hopes" appear on Oceanic Spirit. The name of a Hungarian city, "Szegedin" appears on Silence. Ribemont-Dessaignes’s sensational performances at a number of Paris Dada events revealed his combative side: he hurled insults at the audience, promising to "rip out your spoiled teeth, your pummeled ears, your tongue full of sores."
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