1912

Dances at the Spring

French, 1879 - 1953

The wealthy French-Cuban artist Francis Picabia helped to fund the 1912 Salon de la Section d'Or exhibition, which included thirteen of his paintings, including Dances at the Spring, a work he had completed the spring of that year. The artist took as his inspiration a peasant dance he saw while on his honeymoon in the rugged Italian countryside near Naples. The vivid colors and swirling motion of the two dancing girls, which Picabia fragmented into a dense patchwork of angular planes and faceted forms to create an effect of kaleidoscopic movement, brilliantly capture the excitement of the outdoor festival.