Idyll 1927

Francis Picabia made this painting, Idyll, with paint on board; we don't know exactly when. The colours are muted; the palette is kind of earthy with blues, greens, and browns. But the drawing is bold, almost cartoonish, like he's making it up as he goes along. There's something about the flatness of the paint and the starkness of the lines that grabs you. It's like he's not trying to hide the process. You can see the hand of the artist. Look at the way he's used these short, choppy brushstrokes to create texture in the background, or the thick, black outlines defining the figures, yet, the paint application is really thin. It's all very deliberate. The figures have their own graphic language – see how one figure has an eye placed on its cheek! It's this kind of quirky detail that gives the piece its charm. Picabia was always experimenting, always pushing boundaries. It reminds me a little of Philip Guston, who also embraced this kind of raw, expressive style later in his career. It's like they're both saying, "Hey, art doesn't have to be perfect. It can be messy, weird, and still beautiful."