The ‘consistently inconsistent’ Francis Picabia

Our heads are round so our thoughts can change direction. This phrase of Francis Picabias (1879-1953) offers a synopsis of his kaleidoscopic personality, says the curator Cathrine Hug of Kunsthaus Zurich, who has co-organised a survey of his work that opens this month. Primarily known as a Dadaist, Picabia also experimented with Impressionism, Cubism and Surrealism. His work is consistently inconsistent, as the co-curator Anne Umland of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) writes in her catalogue ess