Picabia, Francis (1879-1953)

Picabia, Francis

PAINTER (FRANCE)

BORN 22 Jan 1879, Paris: 82 rue des Petits Champs - DIED 30 Nov 1953, Paris: Rue Danielle Casanova 26
BIRTH NAME Picabia, Francis Marie Martinez de
GRAVE LOCATION Paris: Cimetière de Montmartre, 20 Avenue Rachel (division 31 (mausoleum of the Davanne family))

Francis Picabia was born in Paris as the son of a weathy Spanish father. His mother Marie Cécile Davanne died when he was seven years old. He studied at the École des Arts Décoratifs and under F. Cormon at the École des Beaux-Arts. He started painting in impressionistic style until he was influenced by cubism in 1909. In that same year he married Gabrièle Buffet. They had for children and they divorced in 1930.

In 1911 he joined the Puteaux Group. He met Germaine Everling in 1915 and she became his mistress. In 1915 he teamed up with Marcel Duchamp in New York and together with Duchamp and Man Ray he exhibited at Gallery 219. The work of this group developed into Dadaism. In 1919 his son Lorenzo was born. Germaine was the mother. They lived at Chateau de Mai near Cannes. By this time the young Swiss girl Olga Mohrer (1905-2002) was employed as a governess. Picabia broke with the Dadaists in 1921 and joined the Surrealists. Later he turned away from Surrealism as well. In 1927 he travelled to Barcelona with Olga and Lorenzo and in 1930 he was with Olga at his yaught Horizon in Cannes and in 1933 Germaine left him.

Around 1940 most of his money was gone and he lived with Olga at a small apartment in Golfe-Juan. For the first time in his life his paintings were his main source of income. He married Olga in 1940. Shortly after the war he suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and he returned to Paris in 1945. He also returned to abstract painting in that year. He died in Paris in 1953 in the house where he was born, although the name of the street had changed. He was buried at the Montmartre Cemetery in the mausoleum of the Davanne family.

Related persons
• was a friend of Apollinaire, Guillaume
• cooperated with Duchamp, Marcel
• was a friend of Stein, Gertrude

Images
Francis Picabia was buried in the grave of the Davanne family at Montmartre Cimetière, Paris. Picture by Androom (18 May 2005)	Francis Picabia was buried in the grave of the Davanne family at Montmartre Cimetière, Paris. Picture by Androom (18 May 2005)