About the artworkFrancis Picabia was born into a wealthy home and lived a life of debauchery. A substantial inheritance brought him freedom as an artist. In the 1910s, he became one of the Dadaists. They rebelled against reason and convention and claimed chance as the motor of art. The title Beware of the Painting! may refer to the fact that the object at the centre is a hand grenade. Picabia produced a series of “mechanomorphic” or “machine-body” paintings between 1915 and 1920. The new era was often called the “machine age”. The Futurists were impressed, but Dadaists like Picabia were sceptical to say the least. The painting thus has elements of parody while seeming to celebrate a Dieu brouillon, a “God of trouble”. But interpretation and retrospection were not in Picabia’s nature. He always lived in the present. Signatures, inscriptions and marks Signerad i nedre höger hörn: "Francis Picabia", På baksidan av ramen en rad etiketter Selected exhibition history Moderna Museet c/o Magasin 3 (den 23 mars 2002 - den 16 juni 2002) Magasin 3 Stockholm Konsthall Implosion. Ett postmodernt perspektiv / A Postmodern Perspective (1987-1988) Moderna Museet, Stockholm Mästerverken åter. Verk av spanska konstnärer ur Samling S. runt den återbördade Picassos Källan. (1995) Moderna Museet, Stockholm Dansmaskiner (den 22 januari 2014 - den 27 april 2014) Moderna Museet, Stockholm Moderna Museets samling i ny presentation (1998-2000) Moderna Museet, Stockholm Supersurrealismen (den 29 september 2012 - den 27 januari 2013) Moderna Museet Malmö Francis Picabia (1984) Kunsthaus Zürich Sömnlösa nätter. Från 1980-talet i Moderna Museets samling (den 24 februari 2023 - den 14 januari 2024) Moderna Museet, Stockholm Den underjordiska himlen. Surrealism i Moderna Museets samling (den 26 oktober 2024 - den 17 januari 2027) Moderna Museet, Stockholm Dada-utställningen (1966) Moderna Museet, Stockholm Samlingsutställning 2004 - 2011 - I vår tid (2004 - 2011) Moderna Museet, Stockholm The Moderna Museet exhibition catalogues Dada : meddelande från Moderna Museets vännerImplosion : ett postmodernt perspektiv : [Moderna Museet, Stockholm : 24/10 1987 - 10/1 1988]Francis Picabia : Moderna Museet, Stockholm : 7 april - 20 maj 1984The Masterpieces are back! : Moderna Museet, Spårvagnshallarna : [May 6th - August 27th 1995]Mästerverken åter! Moderna Museet, Spårvagnshallarna : [6 maj - 27 augusti 1995]Dance machinesDe Ou Par Marcel Duchamp : Par Ulf Linde : [Moderna Museet Stockholm/Konstakademien 29/9-13/11 2011] Bibliography Everling, Germaine, l'Anneau de Saturne, Paris 1970, s 91. Camfield, William A., Francis Picabia, New York 1970, ill. s 106. Francis Picabia, Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, Paris 1976, ill. nr. 73. Camfield, William A., Francis Picabia: His Art, Life and Times, New Jersey 1979, s 131, ill. nr. 176. Schuldt och Heinz, Francis Picabia, Köln 1984, ill. s 53. Francis Picabia, Madrid 1985, ill. s 136. Borrás, Maria Lluïsa, Picabia, Barcelona 1985, ill. (färg) s 233. Ashton, Dore (red), Twentieth-Century Artists on Art, New York 1985, ill. s 24. Picabia 1879-1953, Frankfurt am Main, Edinburgh 1988, ill. (färg) s 67.

Works by the artist