Picabia Inside Out

Meditations on Picabia across seven decades, from the acclaimed American realist painter

In the 1950s, American painter Philip Pearlstein completed his MA thesis, “The Paintings of Francis Picabia 1908–1930.” When his research coincided with Picabia’s death in 1953, Pearlstein briefly became the authority on Picabia and his influence, writing three subsequent essays: “The Symbolic Language of Francis Picabia” for Arts magazine (1956); “Hello & Goodbye, Francis Picabia” for Art News (1970); and “When the Dada Daddies Got Real, or How I Turned Picabia Inside Out” for Brooklyn Rail (2017). Pearlstein’s articles present a fascinating comparison between Picabia, Duchamp and Pearlstein himself.
Picabia Inside Out brings together Pearlstein’s articles in full, including a facsimile of the 1955 MA thesis presented as a historical document showing all the nuances of his typewriter. A foreword by Robert Storr highlights Pearlstein's importance as a precursor to what became known as postmodernism.
Philip Pearlstein (born 1924) is an American painter best known for his modernist realist nudes. Pearlstein has written many articles for major art journals, and his contribution to contemporary art is acknowledged by his many awards and honors.