Sale: Sotheby's, Amsterdam, 3rd October 1988, lot 86
Purchased at the above sale by the present owner

The board is stable. There is a very small area of retouching just above the centre of the right edge visible under UV light. Apart from two small areas of paint loss to the upper right corner, a small spot of paint loss to the centre of the right edge and two further nailhead-sized spots of paint loss just below it, this work is in good condition.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Femme au châle bleu is a magnificent example of Picabia's late realist style that proved so influential on later contemporary artists such as Sigmar Polke and John Currin. Despite the initial scepticism of his contemporaries, Picabia's return to figurative painting in the 1940s, and in particular his use of kitsch, popular or low-brow imagery in his paintings, are increasingly seen as a conscious parody of the pretensions of the modernist movement. The kitsch imagery of 🐟these works, appropriated from magazines and photographs, was an extension of the Dada strategy of using erotic and popular imagery to undermine artistic conventions, but by the 1940s Modernism had become Picabia's target. These works provide a crucial link between the satirising, anti-art sentiments of the Dadaist movement and later postmodernist artists.