THE COLLECTION
"M'Amenez-y"
Francis Picabia (French, 1879-1953)
1919-20. Oil on cardboard, 50 3/4 x 35 3/8" (129.2 x 89.8 cm). Helena Rubinstein Fund. © 2009 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris
1309.1968
Dada
June 18–September 11, 2006
This work delivers a barrage of puns that transform the language of fine art into far less noble phrases. The inscription at the top, "Portrait à l’huile de Ricin!" ("Portrait with castor oil!"), connects the foul-smelling substance with "l’huile de lin," or linseed oil, the binder used in oil paint; other inscriptions read, "Ratelier d’artiste," or "False teeth of the artist," a play on "atelier d’artiste" ("artist’s studio"). The work itself is identified as "Peinture crocodile," or "Crocodile painting," possibly associating the art of painting with the hypocrisy of "crocodile" tears.
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