Francis Picabia: Our Heads Are Round so Our Thoughts Can Change Direction

This is the catalogue of the mammoth exhibit launched in Zurich (where I saw it while ago) and now at MOMA in New York. The exhibit is a real eye-opener--including aspects of all Picabia's work--beautiful, provocative, exquisitely crafted, vulgar, erudite, rambunctious, pornographic--in all the media he explored--painting, drawing, collage, sculpture, installation, costume & scene design, cinema, writing. The exhibit also includes dozens of items in private collection never or rarely before publicly displayed. No serious lover of modernist art should miss it. The book documents the show in exemplary fashion, worth every penny of the not unreasonable price. I can think of only one way in which it could have been better: the insertion of a CD containing ENTR'ACTE, Picabia's experimental film collaboration with Rene Claire, a surrealist masterpiece on the level with (and in some respects superior to) the Dali/Bunuel CHIEN ANDALOU. I saw it screened at the exhibit and the moving image together with Satie's music create a lot better effect than a selection of stills.

Excellent overview of Picabia's career, this exhibition catalog is a good example of how a retrospective book should be put together. The book moves chronologically covering each phase of Picabia's practice and ending with an annotated timeline. Each phase is introduced with an illustrated essay followed by a plate section. Very informative and excellent reproductions throughout. Even if you can see this exhibition in person I would recommend reading this book before seeing the show. Highly recommended for those interested in the art of Francis Picabia.

Great book with a wealth of information about a true original in modern art... well worth the read

visually a stunner

If you like Picabia - this is it !

Fantastic!

very comprehensive -- it'll take me a while to look at it all --

Beautiful paintings and text to support them.

doesn't relate Picabia creativity and poetry. Written by curators without imagination. hard to manipulate this heavy book searching for plates while you read the text that relates to them.

Very complete but i was hoping in more of his collage and drawings. Good essays and illustration though

impeccable

I have an extensive art library but, until now, no monographs on Picabia. This will fill that gap in my library.