In the 1950s, American painter Philip Pearlstein completed his MA thesis, "The Paintings of Francis Picabia 1908-1930." When his research coincided with Picabia's death in 1953, Pearlstein briefly became the authority on Picabia and his influence, writing three subsequent essays: "The Symbolic Language of Francis Picabia" for Arts magazine (1956); "Hello & Goodbye, Francis Picabia" for Art News (1970); and "When the Dada Daddies Got Real, or How I Turned Picabia Inside Out" for Brooklyn Rail (2017). Pearlstein's articles present a fascinating comparison between Picabia, Duchamp and Pearlstein himself. Picabia Inside Out brings together Pearlstein's articles in full, including a facsimile of the 1955 MA thesis presented as a historical document showing all the nuances of his typewriter. A foreword by Robert Storr highlights Pearlstein's importance as a precursor to what became known as postmodernism.
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