Anne Berest Publishes Four-Part Literary Series on Francis Picabia Ahead of Milan Exhibition
Anne Berest has introduced a four-part series of short stories in Beaux Arts, honoring her great-grandfather, the artist Francis Picabia. This initiative aligns with her inaugural curatorial exhibition titled "Picabia. Ouvrir les portes de la nuit," which will be held at Palazzo Reale in Milan from October 9, 2026, to January 24, 2027. The exhibition showcases more than 170 pieces, tracing Picabia's journey from Impressionism to abstraction. In the series' first part, Berest shares her childhood experience of discovering Picabia's artwork, including her mother’s shy admission of their familial connection. At the age of thirteen, she identified his art at the Centre Pompidou. The next installment will be available online on October 2. The exhibition is located at Palazzo Reale, 12 Piazza del Duomo, 20122 Milano.
Key facts
- Anne Berest is publishing a four-part short story series on Francis Picabia in Beaux Arts.
- The series accompanies her first curatorial project, an exhibition at Palazzo Reale in Milan.
- The exhibition "Picabia. Ouvrir les portes de la nuit" runs from October 9, 2026, to January 24, 2027.
- It features over 170 works and is structured as a nocturnal journey rather than a chronological retrospective.
- Berest previously co-wrote the book Gabriële with her sister Claire Berest about Picabia's wife.
- In the first installment, Berest recalls discovering Picabia's work via a Larousse dictionary in the late 1980s.
- She later had a revelation before his painting Udnie (Jeune fille américaine) at the Centre Pompidou as a teenager.
- The next episode of the series will be published online on Friday, October 2.
Entities
Artists
- Anne Berest
- Francis Picabia
- Claire Berest
- Gabriële Buffet-Picabia
- Man Ray
- Eyre de Lanux
- Evelyne Wyld
- Antoine Bonfils
- Helena Noguerra
- Stasia Napierkowska
- Walter Arensberg
- Anne Berest-Picabia
- Paul Cézanne
- Pierre-Auguste Renoir
- Rembrandt
- Gabriële Picabia
- Lélia
- Claire
- Che Guevara
- Jean-Jacques Lebel
- Natalie Seroussi
- Larkin Erdmann
- Victor Hugo
- Lélia Berest
- Olga Picabia
- Anne Picabia
- Pancho Picabia
- Vicente Picabia
- Yves Klein
- Pablo Picasso
- Georges Braque
- Salvador Dalí
- Philippe Migeat
- Christian Bahier
- Consuelo Nocita
- Francesca Formasari
- Marco Miglioli
- Luca Ladiana
- Friedrich Nietzsche
- Edgar Varèse
- Amedeo Modigliani
- Sandro Botticelli
- Caravaggio
- Leonardo da Vinci
- Keith Haring
- Athena Kuang
Institutions
- Beaux Arts
- Palazzo Reale
- Centre Pompidou
- Musée national d'art moderne
- Larousse
- Archives Picabia Family
- Man Ray 2015 Trust
- Adagp
- Bridgeman Images
- SIPA
- GAUSSEN
- Salon d'Automne
- École des Arts Décoratifs
- exibart.com
- Beaux Arts Magazine
- Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris
- Bibliothèque nationale de France
- Archives Comité Picabia
- Archives de la famille Picabia
- Musée-bibliothèque Pierre-André Benoît
- Comité Picabia
- GrandPalais Rmn
- SCALA presse
- Christie's
- Succession Yves Klein
- MADEINART
- Kunsthaus Zürich
- RMN-Grand Palais
- Larkin Erdmann
- Galerie 1900-2000
- Perl Collection
- The Berardo Collection
- Mercatorfonds
- Giò Marconi
- Rijksmuseum
- C41 Magazine
Locations
- Milan
- Italy
- Paris
- France
- New York
- United States
- Picardy
- Cannes
- Seville
- Spain
- Andalusia
- Alès
- Montmartre
- Cité Veron
- Piazza del Duomo
- Zurich
- Switzerland
- Riviera
- Brussels
- Belgium