Francis Picabia (Kids)

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*La Ville de New York aperçue à travers le corps (The City of New York Perceived through the Body)*

Francis Picabia. La Ville de New York aperçue à travers le corps (The City of New York Perceived through the Body). 1913 6510

Francis Picabia. La Ville de New York aperçue à travers le corps (The City of New York Perceived through the Body). 1913. Watercolor, gouache, ink, and pencil on paper, 21 5/8 × 29 1/2″ (55 × 75 cm). Mark Kelman, New York. © 2016 Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York/ADAGP, Paris. Photo courtesy Mark Kelman

Narrator: Like so many people in the world—maybe you, too—Picabia loved New York City.
This watercolor painting is his portrait of New York. Here’s Talia to tell you more:

Talia Kwartler: He was very excited by the energy of the city, by the different noises, by the different smells, by the huge buildings, by the new machinery that he saw. There are lights, there is lots of commotion, there are cars!

Narrator: But does this picture look like the New York you saw outside the museum?

Picabia looked at New York and decided he wanted to make a picture of how the city made him feel, not just how it looked. Think about how the city makes you feel.

Here’s a secret about this painting. After Picabia finished it, he flipped it upside down, making his view of New York even stranger. Can you imagine seeing New York upside down?