Picabia returned to New York in 1915 and resumed contact with artists around Alfred Stieglitz, who were working on 291, a large-format avant-garde magazine. This drawing was one of the first that Picabia contributed to the journal. With its schematic depiction of a coiled spring alongside more organic forms, it reflects the artist’s interest in mechanical imagery, or what photographer and writer Paul Haviland described in Picabia’s work as the “machinomorphic.” It also conveys his contact with Marcel Duchamp, who had arrived in New York at about the same time; together, and with Man Ray, they would lead the rebellious antiwar art movement known as Dada from Europe to New York.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Girl Born without a Mother
Artist:Francis Picabia (French, Paris 1879–1953 Paris)
Date:ca. 1914–15
Medium:Pen and black ink on found hotel stationery paper
Dimensions:10 3/8 × 8 7/16 in. (26.3 × 21.4 cm)
Classification:Drawings
Credit Line:Alfred Stieglitz Collection, 1949
Object Number:49.70.18
Inscription: Signed (lower left, in black ink): Picabia; inscribed (lower right, in black ink): Fille née sans mère
the artist (probably in 1915 to Stieglitz); Alfred Stieglitz, New York (probably 1915–d. 1946; his estate, 1946–49; gift to MMA)
Modern Gallery, New York. "Picabia Exhibition," January 5–25, 1916, no catalogue.
Museum of Modern Art, New York. "Alfred Stieglitz Exhibition: His Collection," June 10–August 31, 1947, no. catalogue (checklist no. 86; as "Fille nee sans mere," 1912).
Art Institute of Chicago. "Alfred Stieglitz: His Photographs and His Collection," February 2–29, 1948, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Drawings from the Alfred Stieglitz Collection," September 9–November 12, 1967, no catalogue.
Museum of Modern Art, New York. "The Machine as Seen at the End of the Mechanical Age," November 25, 1968–February 9, 1969, unnumbered cat. (p. 82; as "Fille née sans mère (Girl Born without a Mother)," ca. 1915).
Houston. University of St. Thomas. "The Machine as Seen at the End of the Mechanical Age," March 25–May 18, 1969, unnumbered cat.
San Francisco Museum of Art. "The Machine as Seen at the End of the Mechanical Age," June 23–August 24, 1969, unnumbered cat.
New York. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. "Francis Picabia," September 17–December 6, 1970, no. 41 (as "Girl Born without a Mother. (Fille née sans mère)," ca. 1915).
Paris. Galeries nationales du Grand Palais. "Francis Picabia," January 23–March 29, 1976, no. 44 (as "Fille née sans mère," 1913–15).
Berlin. Neue Nationalgalerie. "Tendenzen der Zwanziger Jahre," August 14–October 16, 1977, no. 3/685 (as "Fille née sans mère," 1913–15).
Frankfurt. Städtische Galerie im Städelschen Kunstinstitut. "DaDa in Europa: Werke und Dokumente," November 10, 1977–January 8, 1978, no. 3/685 (as "Fille née sans mère," 1913–15).
Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Caracas. "El Espíritu Dada 1915-1925," November 14, 1980–January 15, 1981, unnumbered cat. (p. 185; as "Hija Nacidea sin Madre/Fille née sans Mère," 1913–15).
Städtische Kunsthalle Düsseldorf. "Francis Picabia," October 29–December 4, 1983, no. 25 (as "Fille née sans mère (Ohne Mutter geborene Tochter)," ca. 1915).
Kunsthaus Zürich. "Francis Picabia," February 3–March 25, 1984, no. 25.
Moderna Museet, Stockholm. "Francis Picabia," April 7–May 25, 1984, no. 23 (as "Fille née sans mère (Dotter född utan mor)," ca. 1915).
Madrid. Salas Pablo Ruiz Picasso. "Francis Picabia (1879–1953): Exposició antológica," January 29–March 31, 1985, no. 29 (as "Fille née sans mère (Filla nascuda sense mare)," 1915).
Barcelona. Centre Cultural de la Caixa de Pensions. "Francis Picabia (1879–1953): Exposició antológica," April 16–May 31, 1985, no. 29.
New York. Whitney Museum of American Art. "Making Mischief: Dada Invades New York," November 21, 1996–February 23, 1997, unnumbered cat. (p. 58; as "Fille née sans mère (Girl Born Without a Mother)," 1915).
Düsseldorf. Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen. "Puppen Körper Automaten: Phantasmen der Moderne," July 24–October 17, 1999, unnumbered cat. (p. 300; as "Fille née sans mère (Mädchen, das ohne Mutter geboren wurde)," ca. 1912).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Stieglitz and His Artists: Matisse to O'Keeffe," October 13, 2011–January 2, 2012, no. 17.
291 no. 4 (June 1915), ill. frontispiece (color, based on this work), with "FILLE NÉE SANS MÈRE" printed lower right and "PICABIA/New York, 1915" printed lower left.
Paul B. Haviland. "We Are Living in the Age of the Machine/Nous vivons dans l'âge de la machine." 291 nos. 7–8 (September–October 1915), unpaginated, calls it "Daughter Born Without a Mother/Fille Née Sans Mère".
"Art and Artists." New York Globe (January 11, 1916), p. 12, calls it "Daughter Born Without a Mother".
"Picabia's Puzzles." Christian Science Monitor (January 29, 1916), p. 13, calls it "Daughter Born Without a Mother".
Henry Clifford and Carl Zigrosser. History of an American, Alfred Stieglitz: "291" and After, Selections from the Stieglitz Collection. Exh. cat., Philadelphia Museum of Art. [Philadelphia], 1944, p. 15, no. 107, call it "Fille née sans mère".
Philip Pearlstein. "The Symbolic Language of Francis Picabia." Arts 30 (January 1956), pp. 39–40, 43, ill., calls it "Fille née sans mère (Daughter Born without Mother)" in the text and "Fille née sans mère (Daughter Born without a Mother)" in the caption; dates it 1913.
Marguerite Bonnet. "A propos de 'Cortège': Apollinaire et Picabia." La Revue des lettres modernes nos. 85–89 (1963), p. 73, calls it "Fille née sans mère".
William A. Camfield. "The Machinist Style of Francis Picabia." Art Bulletin 48 (September–December 1966), p. 314, fig. 5, calls it "Fille née sans mère" and dates it about 1915.
William S. Rubin. Dada and Surrealist Art. New York, [1968], pp. 53, 485, fig. D-64, dates it 1913 and erroneously locates it in a private collection.
Marc Le Bot. Francis Picabia et la crise des valeurs figuratives: 1900–1925. Paris, 1968, pp. 53, 60, 113, 117, 123, 126, fig. 28, calls it "Fille née sans mère" and dates it 1913.
K. G. Pontus Hultén. The Machine as Seen at the End of the Mechanical Age. Exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art. New York, 1968, pp. 83, 93, ill. p. 82.
Françoise Will-Levaillant. "Picabia et la machine: Symbole et abstraction." Revue de l'art no. 4 (1969), p. 78, fig. 4, calls it "Fille née sans mère" and dates it 1913 or 1915.
George Heard Hamilton. "The Alfred Stieglitz Collection." Metropolitan Museum Journal 3 (1970), pp. 380–81, calls it "Fille née sans mère (Girl Born Without a Mother)" and dates it about 1915.
William A. Camfield. Francis Picabia. Exh. cat., Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. New York, 1970, pp. 23–24, 87, no. 41, ill.
Dickran Tashjian. Skyscraper Primitives: Dada and the American Avant-Garde, 1910–1925. Middletown, Conn., 1975, p. 35, ill. between pp. 90 and 91 (version published in "291"), calls it "Fille née sans mère".
Jean-Hubert Martin and Hélène Seckel, ed. Francis Picabia. Exh. cat., Galeries nationales du Grand Palais. Paris, 1976, pp. 75, 185, no. 44, ill. p. 74.
William A. Camfield. Francis Picabia: His Art, Life and Times. Princeton, 1979, pp. 80–82, 285, fig. 100, calls it "Fille née sans mère (Girl Born without a Mother)" and dates it about 1915.
Virginia Spate. Orphism: The Evolution of Non-Figurative Painting in Paris, 1910–1914. Oxford, 1979, pp. 334, 336, 364 n. 91, pl. 254, calls it "Fille née sans mère" and dates it 1913–15.
Jan Thompson. "Picabia and His Influence on American Art, 1913–17." Art Journal 39 (Fall 1979), p. 17, fig. 10, calls it "Fille née sans mère (Daughter Born Without a Mother)" and dates it 1913.
[Herbert] Schuldt. Francis Picabia. Exh. cat., Städtische Kunsthalle Düsseldorf. Cologne, 1983, p. XVIII.
Marianne Heinz inFrancis Picabia. Exh. cat., Städtische Kunsthalle Düsseldorf. Cologne, 1983, p. 171, no. 25, ill. p. 48.
Nina Öhman, ed. Francis Picabia. Exh. cat., Moderna Museet. Stockholm, 1984, pp. 29, 82, no. 23, ill. p. 24.
Katia Samaltanos. Apollinaire: Catalyst for Primitivism, Picabia, and Duchamp. Ann Arbor, 1984, p. 72, calls it "La Fille née sans mère".
Maria Lluïsa Borràs. Picabia. New York, 1985, pp. 101, 153, 155, 159 n. 20, p. 508, no. 155, fig. 275, calls it "Daughter born without mother" and dates it 1913.
Willard Bohn. "Picabia's 'Mechanical Expression' and the Demise of the Object." Art Bulletin 67 (December 1985), p. 673, calls it "Fille née sans mère" and dates it either 1913 or 1915.
Judi Freeman inThe Dada and Surrealist Word-Image. Exh. cat., Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Los Angeles, 1989, p. 28, fig. 17, calls it "Fille née sans mère (Daughter born without mother)" and dates it 1913.
David Hopkins. "Questioning Dada's Potency: Picabia's 'La Sainte Vierge' and the Dialogue With Duchamp." Art History 15 (September 1992), p. 321, pl. 32, calls it "Fille née sans mère" and dates it about 1915.
Anna C. Chave. Constantin Brancusi: Shifting the Bases of Art. New Haven, 1993, p. 158, fig. 4.30, calls it "Daughter Born without a Mother" in the text and "Fille née sans mère" in the caption; dates it about 1915.
Francis M. Naumann. New York Dada, 1915–23. New York, 1994, pp. 59–60, 70, 72, 229 n. 9, ill. p. 60, calls it "Fille née sans mère (Girl Born Without a Mother)" and dates it 1915.
Cathy Bernheim. Picabia. Paris, 1995, pp. 79–80, calls it "Fille née sans mère".
William A. Camfield inFrancis Picabia: Máquinas y Españolas. Exh. cat., IVAM Centre Julio González. [Valencia], [1995], pp. 27, 176, calls it both "fille née sans mère" and "Fille née sans mère [Daughter Born Without a Mother]".
Todd Alden inMaking Mischief: Dada Invades New York. Exh. cat., Whitney Museum of American Art. New York, 1996, pp. 51, 292, ill. p. 58.
Barbara Zabel inMaking Mischief: Dada Invades New York. Exh. cat., Whitney Museum of American Art. New York, 1996, p. 281, ill. p. 285.
Pedro Lapa inFrancis Picabia: Antologia/Anthology. Ed. Clara Távora Vilar. Exh. cat., Centro Cultural de Belém. Belém, Portugal, 1997, pp. 20–21, calls it "Fille née sans mère" and dates it 1913.
Carole Boulbès. Picabia: Le Saint masqué. Paris, 1998, p. 16, calls it "Fille née sans mère".
Caroline A. Jones. "The Sex of the Machine: Mechanomorphic Art, New Women,
and Francis Picabia' s Neurasthenic Cure." Picturing Science, Producing Art. Ed. Caroline A. Jones and Peter Galison. New York, 1998, pp. 157, 159–60, 176 n. 28, p. 179 n. 65, fig. 4, calls it "Fille née sans mère [FNSM]" in the text and "Fille née sans mère (Daughter born without a mother)" in the caption; dates it 1913 or 1915.
Pepe Karmel inModern Art and America: Alfred Stieglitz and His New York Galleries. Exh. cat., National Gallery of Art. Washington, D. C., 2000, pp. 210–11, fig. 75, dates it 1915.
Jennifer A. Greenhill in "Reviews." Archives of American Art Journal 40, nos. 3/4 (2000), pp. 34–35, ill. p. 33 (as undated).
Annie Le Brun inFrancis Picabia: Singulier idéal. Exh. cat., Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris. Paris, 2002, p. 81, calls it "La Fille née sans mère" and dates it 1913.
Dickran Tashjian. "Magnetic Fields in Manhattan: Stieglitz, Dada, and the Photography Debate." Crisis and the Arts: The History of Dada. Vol. 8 Dada, New York: New World for Old. Ed. Martin Ignatius Gaughan and Stephen C. Foster. Farmington Hills, Mich., 2003, pp. 65–66, fig. 4.7 (version published in "291"), calls it "Fille née sans mère".
Michel Sanouillet. "Picabia's First Trip to New York." Crisis and the Arts: The History of Dada. Vol. 8 Dada New York: New World for Old. Ed. Martin Ignatius Gaughan and Stephen C. Foster. Farmington Hills, Mich., 2003, pp. 116, 118, 128 n. 30, calls it "Daughter Born without a Mother" and dates it 1913.
William Camfield inNew York et l'art moderne: Alfred Stieglitz et son cercle (1905-1930). Exh. cat., Musée d'Orsay. Paris, 2004, p. 127, fig. 38, calls it "Fille née sans mère" and dates it about 1915.
Amelia Jones. Irrational Modernism: A Neurasthenic History of New York Dada. Cambridge, Mass., 2004, pp. 80, 82, 84–85, 88, 90, 273 n. 134, fig. 2.16, calls it "Fille née sans mère (Girl born without a mother)" and dates it 1915.
George Baker. The Artwork Caught by the Tail: Francis Picabia and Dada in Paris. Cambridge, Mass., 2007, pp. 22, 72, 241, 244, ill. p. 243 (version published in "291"), calls it "Fille née sans mère (Girl Born without a Mother)" and dates it around 1915.
David Hopkins. Dada's Boys: Masculinity After Duchamp. New Haven, 2007, pp. 28, 225–26 n. 47, fig. 12, dates it 1915.
Jessica Murphy inStieglitz and His Artists: Matisse to O'Keeffe. The Alfred Stieglitz Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Ed. Lisa Mintz Messinger. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2011, pp. 43, 46, 246–47, no. 17, ill. (color) pp. 46, 246.
Rachel Mustalish inStieglitz and His Artists: Matisse to O'Keeffe. The Alfred Stieglitz Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Ed. Lisa Mintz Messinger. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2011, p. 46.
William A. Camfield et al. Francis Picabia: Catalogue Raisonné. Vol. 2, 1915–1927. Brussels, 2016, pp. 40–41, 146–49, 168–69, 204, 207, 222, 249, no. 494, ill. pp. 206–7 (color, detail and overall), fig. 93 (color), call it "Fille née sans mère" and date it 1915.
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