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691

A work made of letterpress on white wove paper; two wove paper cut-out designs (one loose); two photolithographs after drawings, one line block reproduction of a hand-written note in blue on buff wove paper; one line block reproduction of hand-written shape poem in black on graph paper watermarked p.j.a. velin.

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  • A work made of letterpress on white wove paper; two wove paper cut-out designs (one loose); two photolithographs after drawings, one line block reproduction of a hand-written note in blue on buff wove paper; one line block reproduction of hand-written shape poem in black on graph paper watermarked p.j.a. velin.

Date:

Alès, France: P.A. Benoit, 1959

Artist:

Francis Picabia (French, 1879-1953)
Contributions by Hans Arp (French, born Germany, 1886–1966)
Contributions by Marcel Duchamp (American, born France, 1887-1968)
Contributions by Tristan Tzara (French, born Romania, 1896-1963)
Printed by Pierre-André Benoit (French, 1921-1993)

About this artwork

691 features text-based works by Dadaists Tristan Tzara and Marcel Duchamp as well as illustrations by Hans Arp and Francis Picabia. Some of these pieces are detachable from the page, creating an interactive experience for the reader.

Francis Picabia was a Dadaist writer and artist who was close to Marcel Duchamp and active in avant-garde art circles of the time. In 1913 photographer and art dealer Alfred Stieglitz curated a solo show for Picabia’s work at his gallery 291. This number became the inspiration for Picabia to create his own Dadaist publication entitled 391, which ran from 1917 to 1924.

Upon the end of the publication’s run, Picabia distanced himself from Dada and moved south, away from the chaos of Paris, but by the 1940s, the tensions across Europe had drawn Picabia back to the world of avant-garde art. It’s from this personal renaissance that Picabia, along with his artistic associates and publishing connections, produced the short work 691. The magazine was published by Pierre-Andre Benoit, an art collector and publisher of many avant-garde artists and writers of the time.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Ryerson and Burnham Libraries Special Collections

Artist

Francis Picabia

Title

691

Place

France (Object made in:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1959

Medium

Letterpress on white wove paper; two wove paper cut-out designs (one loose); two photolithographs after drawings, one line block reproduction of a hand-written note in blue on buff wove paper; one line block reproduction of hand-written shape poem in black on graph paper watermarked P.J.A. VELIN

Dimensions

H.: 33 cm (13 in.)

Credit Line

Mary Reynolds Collection Fund, Ryerson & Burnham Libraries

Reference Number

2020.45

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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