Francis Picabia – Dresseur d'Animaux, 1937

5 October 2017 · Paris

Picabia's Dresseur d'Animaux hangs large and flat against a white gallery wall — a silhouetted animal trainer, whip raised, surrounded by a red dog, a spotted cow, a golden fox, and a black cat, all rendered in hard graphic shapes against a muted blue-grey ground. The painting is dated 8 Juillet 1937 in Picabia's own hand. Figurative in subject, the work sits at an odd angle to both surrealism and illustration — committed to neither, doing something between them with complete conviction.