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Picabia’s Final Frontier

The yacht-owning, sports car–loving artist Francis Picabia defied the odds in nearly all aspects of his life and career—and only now are his striking pinup works being taken seriously.

Francis Picabia
Francis Picabia in his Paris atelier, summer 1912. Photo: Archives Comité Picabia/Courtesy of Hauser and Wirth
Marion Maneker
June 5, 2026

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If you happen to be in Europe for London Gallery Weekend or Art Basel, you might take some time to indulge in the small Francis Picabia moment that seems to be taking place. As a close friend of Marcel Duchamp (whose MoMA retrospective is one of the current must-see shows in New York) and the poet Guillaume Apollinaire, Picabia knew, provoked, influenced, and was inspired by a range of figures, from Camille Pissarro, Alfred Stieglitz, Man Ray, and Gertrude Stein to Tristan Tzara, André Breton, Sigmar Polke, and many others.