Narrator: Listen to part of a lecture in an art history class.
Professor: Francis Picabia is not a household name, like Picasso or Matisse. But he, uh… he was truly a force in the world of art throughout the twentieth century. He sort of, uh… defies classification, though, in a way, because of how varied his career was.
You know, I remember when I discovered Picabia as a student of art history. I assumed that he was a standard member of the Dadaism movement, because the first thing I learned about him was that he was called “Papa Dada,” as in Dadaism. The Dadaism movement, you may remember, was a movement in art that took place in Europe during and after World War I. Not just Europe, but mainly Europe. It reached North America as well. And mainly, well… mainly it took place after the war. It was a response to the war, really, and all that was happening at the time. The ideas at the root of this movement were about challenging… protesting… the accepted definitions of art. If you’ve ever heard the term “anti-art,” that was a term that came up during this time. I believe it was coined by the famous Dadaist, Marcel Duchamp. You may have heard of him.
But really, Dadaism was about more than just challenging art. It was about questioning the cultural and political forces that Dadaists believed led to the war. Dadaists rejected the established idea that there were, you know, only certain ways that art could and should be. They opposed the idea that there’s logic behind what art is. Dadaism was the opposite of logic! No logic. No reason. Just feeling, intuition… chaos.
Some people were really horrified by this, you know. They found it offensive. You can probably see why. I mean, it was meant to offend. That was sort of the point.
Now, what did this art actually look like? Well, you probably recall that collage was a technique that developed during the Cubism movement, which came before, and it means, uh… pasting pieces of paper onto the canvas. Actually cutting them out, of newspapers or magazines or whatever, and pasting them on. Dadaism used collage, but took it to a whole new level… instead of just using paper to create a piece of art, they were assembling actual objects. An assemblage is a collection of everyday objects fastened together. The objects are things that you’d just find sitting around—nothing particularly special. Assemblages would become a big thing later in the twentieth century, but the idea of an assemblage originated in Dadaism. And finally, another Dada technique was called “readymades.” These were, for some, the most controversial kind of Dada art… maybe because they were really just, well… already-made objects—like a toilet, by itself—that the artists tried to get away with calling “art.” Again, if that sounds offensive, it’s because that was part of the point.
But to get back to Francis Picabia… he was called Papa Dada, but he wasn’t only a Dadaist. After the Dada movement and its dominant styles sort of passed, and the art world had moved on to Surrealism, and then to conceptual art… Picabia? He did not follow the trend. He was unusual in that he would continue to work in a variety of styles—a true mix—when other artists were at least sticking generally to a particular style at a particular time. You’ll see in a moment, when I show you slides of his work over time… well, it was all over the place. Some people have even described his style as incoherent. He would make work that was figurative and work that was abstract—so by that, I mean, not figurative, meaning not recognizable as being pulled from life, like a person or a tree. He really defied categorization. Picabia was… it was almost like he was determined not to stick to a particular style. He went back and forth. He was making more figurative work in the 1920s and mid-1940s, but in his last years making art, in the late 1940s and early 1950s, he returned to abstractionism. And throughout his entire career, I don’t think you could say that he was any one thing, because that’s just not how he thought about it. When he talked about what inspired him, he talked about what he felt in the deepest part of his mind… his intuition. Let me show you these slides so you’ll see what I mean…
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What does the professor mainly talk about? |
Gist-content. The professor mainly discusses Francis Picabia and what makes him unique as an artist. |
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| ✗ | A How Francis Picabia became a Dadaist |
The professor does not discuss how Picabia became a Dadaist. |
| ✗ | B Art immediately before World War I |
While art after World War I is discussed, art beforehand is only briefly mentioned. |
| ✗ | C The features of Dadaism in contrast with Surrealism |
Surrealism is briefly mentioned, but a comparison with Dadaism is not made in the lecture. |
| ✓ | D The artistic career of Francis Picabia |
Correct. The lecture is about one artist in particular, his career as a whole, and the art movement associated with him. |
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Why does the professor reference her discovery of Picabia while she was an art history student? |
Organization. The professor states, “I remember when I discovered Picabia as a student of art history. I assumed that he was a standard member of the Dadaism movement.” |
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| ✓ | A To emphasize that the trajectory of Picabia’s career was surprising to her |
Correct. As an art student, the professor assumed that Picabia was a “standard member of the Dadaism movement,” but in fact his career was more varied. |
| ✗ | B To explain the historical appeal of Picabia’s paintings |
The professor does not discuss the historical appeal of Picabia’s work. |
| ✗ | C To argue that Picabia was as misunderstood then as he is today |
The professor does not argue that Picabia was, or is, misunderstood. |
| ✗ | D To help describe her own philosophy as a student of art |
The professor does not discuss her philosophy as an art student. |
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What are two techniques that were invented during the Dadaism movement? Choose 2 answers. |
Detail. The professor mentions that both assemblages and readymades were styles invented during the Dadaism movement. |
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| ✓ | a Readymades |
Correct. Readymades are essentially previously-made objects. This is a technique created by Dadaists. |
| ✓ | b Assemblages |
Correct. Assemblages are collage-like collections of everyday objects. This is a technique created by Dadaists. |
| ✗ | c Collages |
The professor states that collage was invented beforehand, during the Cubism movement. |
| ✗ | d Abstract painting |
The professor does not mention in the lecture when abstract painting was invented. |
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According to the professor, what is true of other painters who worked at the same time as Picabia? |
Inference. The professor states that other artists at the time “were at least sticking generally to a particular style at a particular time.” |
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| ✗ | A They resented Picabia and the other Dadaists. |
The professor does not mention this idea in the lecture. |
| ✗ | B They leaned more toward abstract painting than figurative painting. |
The professor implies that these painters worked in either of these two styles. |
| ✗ | C They did not change styles at all over the course of their careers. |
The professor only states that they generally stuck to a particular style during a particular time. “At all” is too strong. |
| ✓ | D They did not commonly alternate between abstract painting and figurative painting. |
Correct. It was in this way that Picabia was unusual. |
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Compared with other painters living at the same time, what was unusual about Francis Picabia? |
Detail. The professor states that Picabia was working in “a true mix” of styles, and that this is what made him unusual. |
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| ✗ | A He could paint better abstractly than he could figuratively. |
The professor does not mention this idea in the lecture. |
| ✗ | B He was part of the Dadaism movement. |
Picabia’s inclusion in the Dadaism movement is not what made him unique. |
| ✓ | C He worked in a true mix of styles throughout his career. |
Correct. This is the main point of the lecture. |
| ✗ | D He made assemblages. |
The professor does not mention Picabia making assemblages in the lecture. |
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What is the professor’s opinion about “readymades” in the Dadaism movement? |
Speaker’s Attitude. The professor addresses “readymades” in her explanation of Dadaism. They were objects that were already made—Dadaists then labeled them as “art.” She notes that they were especially controversial. |
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| ✗ | A They were offensive and therefore not art. |
The professor does not argue or imply that because readymades were controversial, they weren’t art. |
| ✓ | B Among other things, they were intended to offend people. |
Correct. The professor states that people taking offense at readymades was “part of the point.” |
| ✗ | C They were probably the most powerful part of the Dadaism movement. |
The professor does not claim they were the most powerful part of the Dadaism movement. |
| ✗ | D They were considered more valuable than they should have been. |
The professor does not offer a personal opinion of the value of readymades. |