La iconografía maquinista en algunas obras de Francis Picabia

Abstract

This essay is, in principle, a reflection originated from the continuous study of the graphical representation of the machine throughout the centuries as the active subject of technicity. After periods when the visual perception of the machine went from being staged, within a figurative world, to becoming a technical, synthetic and codified representation, the mechanical object as a "motif" was introduced to the iconography typical of contemporary art. This event seems to have taken place around 1911-1912 around the time when the term "avant-garde" began to be used. Our focus will be placed on some works from that historical period, by attempting to infer the rules of association with their graphic references, all of which is based on the reflections by German art historian and essayist Erwin Panofsky.