Francis Picabia
(Paris 1879–1953)
Silene, c. 1930–1931, titled, signed Francis Picabia, oil on canvas, 53 x 44 cm, framed
Photo-Certificate:
Beverley Calté, Comité Picabia, Paris, 11 March 2024
Provenance:
Collection Madeleine Duranton (1900–1980), Edinburgh
Sale Sotheby Parke Bernet & Co., London, 8 December 1977, lot 389
Sale Christie’s, London, 6 July 1979, no. 390
Hans Neuendorf, Berlin 1980
Private Collection, Nothern Germany
Exhibited:
Galerie Georges Bernheim et Cie, Paris, Francis Picabia, 10 – 15 November 1931, no. 30
Literature:
Maria Lluisa Borràs, Picabia, London 1985, p. 400, no. 807, cat. no. 619 with b/w ill. there titled Hélias and dated 1934
William A. Cambfield, Beverley Calté, Candace Clements, Pierre Arnauld, Francis Picabia, Catalogue Raisonné Bd. III, 1927–1939, Brussels 2019, p. 270, no. 1198 with b/w ill., inv. 1530
Note:
Duranton claimed to have received this painting from one of Picabia’s daughters in around 1933 in exchange for English lessons, but this has not been verified.
(Catalogue Raisonné, Bd. III, 1927–1939, Brussels 2019, p. 270)
Girod lists “Silene” as the common name for the butterfly “Proserpinus proserpina“, the crepuscular evening primrose hawk-moth. The body of the butterfly is sage-green, its serrated inner wings glow a delicate yellow-orange. Its name comes from its favourite food: the evening primrose. Its bright yellow flowers open in the evening and they begin to fade the next morning, when the sun shines. The Greek philosopher and natural scientist Theophrastus (372–287 BC), a student of Aristotle, determined the generic name of the evening primrose, but the meaning and historical origin of the plant‘s name remains largely unknown. In ancient Greece, evening primrose plants were a popular snack that accompanied wine. According to ancient tradition, the evening primrose was able to tame wild animals if moistened with wine.
A distinction must be made here between the individual “Silenos”, an old and usually drunken man with comical features who was regarded as Dionysus‘s tutor, and the Sileni who were part of Dionysus‘s swarming entourage alongside the nymphs.
Picabia‘s Silene is composed of three transparent overlapping layers, her head placed proportionally to the unfolding chalice-shaped flower – her gracefully drawn brows and gentle eyes render her perhaps the embodied reincarnation of this connection.
Bid on this lot
(Paris 1879–1953)
Silene, c. 1930–1931, titled, signed Francis Picabia, oil on canvas, 53 x 44 cm, framed
Photo-Certificate:
Beverley Calté, Comité Picabia, Paris, 11 March 2024
Provenance:
Collection Madeleine Duranton (1900–1980), Edinburgh
Sale Sotheby Parke Bernet & Co., London, 8 December 1977, lot 389
Sale Christie’s, London, 6 July 1979, no. 390
Hans Neuendorf, Berlin 1980
Private Collection, Nothern Germany
Exhibited:
Galerie Georges Bernheim et Cie, Paris, Francis Picabia, 10 – 15 November 1931, no. 30
Literature:
Maria Lluisa Borràs, Picabia, London 1985, p. 400, no. 807, cat. no. 619 with b/w ill. there titled Hélias and dated 1934
William A. Cambfield, Beverley Calté, Candace Clements, Pierre Arnauld, Francis Picabia, Catalogue Raisonné Bd. III, 1927–1939, Brussels 2019, p. 270, no. 1198 with b/w ill., inv. 1530
Note:
Duranton claimed to have received this painting from one of Picabia’s daughters in around 1933 in exchange for English lessons, but this has not been verified.
(Catalogue Raisonné, Bd. III, 1927–1939, Brussels 2019, p. 270)
Girod lists “Silene” as the common name for the butterfly “Proserpinus proserpina“, the crepuscular evening primrose hawk-moth. The body of the butterfly is sage-green, its serrated inner wings glow a delicate yellow-orange. Its name comes from its favourite food: the evening primrose. Its bright yellow flowers open in the evening and they begin to fade the next morning, when the sun shines. The Greek philosopher and natural scientist Theophrastus (372–287 BC), a student of Aristotle, determined the generic name of the evening primrose, but the meaning and historical origin of the plant‘s name remains largely unknown. In ancient Greece, evening primrose plants were a popular snack that accompanied wine. According to ancient tradition, the evening primrose was able to tame wild animals if moistened with wine.
A distinction must be made here between the individual “Silenos”, an old and usually drunken man with comical features who was regarded as Dionysus‘s tutor, and the Sileni who were part of Dionysus‘s swarming entourage alongside the nymphs.
Picabia‘s Silene is composed of three transparent overlapping layers, her head placed proportionally to the unfolding chalice-shaped flower – her gracefully drawn brows and gentle eyes render her perhaps the embodied reincarnation of this connection.
