Following his move to the south of France in 1925, Picabia pursued his passions for yachting, car racing, and casino gambling, and became a regular presence on the Cannes social circuit. The move also sparked a new style, his so-called Monsters, which are indelibly linked to this atmosphere of luxury and excess, at once indulging in and satirizing the fashionable high society in which he now circulated.

Les Amoureux (Après la pluie) (The Lovers [After the Rain]), completed within Picabia’s first year of living in the south, is one such painting. Like many other Monsters, it depicts an embracing couple in the garish colors and high shine typical of commercial enamel paint. The work stands out, however, for its dark palette—a thickly textured layer of mottled green and black enamel paint surrounds the figures—and the frenzied intensity of the couples’ embrace. Positioned upside down, the woman stares out at the viewer, her severe lips filled in a deep crimson.

This work was one of 80 included in a major Picabia sale in Paris in March 1926. Organized by Marcel Duchamp, likely with Picabia’s behind-the-scenes collusion, the sale served as a de facto retrospective of over 20 years of work, caused a sensation in the press, and was a financial triumph. Perhaps attracted by its depiction of ferocious passion, André Breton, the leader of the Surrealist movement, purchased this painting from the sale; one year later, it was reproduced in his journal La Révolution surréaliste. The work remained in his collection, and then that of his family, for almost 80 years.

For Michael Duffy’s essay on Les Amoureux (Après la pluie), see mo.ma/picabia_conservation.