Machine Turn QuicklyFrancis Picabia · 1917

Identification of Machine Turn Quickly

Machine Turn Quickly, also known by its French title Machine tournez vite, was created by the French artist Francis Picabia. The work dates to 1916/1918. Picabia, born in 1879, was a central figure in the avant-garde movements of the early twentieth century.

This piece emerged during a period of intense experimentation in Picabia's career. The artist's life, spanning from 1879 to 1953, was defined by a continuous rejection of established artistic conventions. Through this work, Picabia engaged with the mechanical aesthetics that characterized the era's shifting relationship with technology.

Visual Composition and Subject Matter

The composition centers on a complex mechanical assembly, resembling a large turbine or engine. A series of gears of varying sizes are distributed across the pictorial space: one is positioned on the far left, another occupies the center, and two more are situated toward the right. These components suggest a functional, albeit abstract, industrial device designed for the generation of power or energy.

Near the center-right area, a clock is integrated into the mechanical arrangement. The presence of this timepiece alongside the interlocking gears introduces a sense of temporal progression within the machine's structure. The arrangement of parts emphasizes a rigid, technical logic, focusing on the intersection of movement and mechanical precision.

Materials and Technical Details

The work is executed using brush and ink combined with watercolor and shell gold. These media are applied over a 19th-century French lithographic illustration. This layered approach creates a complex surface where the artist's hand interacts with a pre-existing printed image.

The composition is laid down on canvas. It measures 49.6 x 32.7 cm (19 1/2 x 12 7/8 in.).