FRANCIS PICABIA — Galerie Marzona Exhibition Invitation, 1977

Produced for Galerie Marzona's Francis Picabia exhibition, Düsseldorf, opening Friday 18 November 1977 and running to 10 December, this original folded offset-printed card operates simultaneously as announcement, map and document of institutional positioning.

The exterior reproduces Man Ray's portrait of Picabia beside a mechanical object. The image condenses artist, photographer and machine into a single historical association before the card is opened. Inside, the portrait gives way to the working structure of the exhibition: artist, date, hour, address, telephone number, opening times and duration.

The reverse supplies a map locating Galerie Marzona between the Kunstmuseum and Kunsthalle Düsseldorf. The card therefore does more than announce a show. It places Picabia within the physical and institutional geography of the city, directing its recipient from the established museum district towards a commercial gallery associated with Conceptual and Minimal art.

The invitation also states that a catalogue would appear with the exhibition. Image, invitation, exhibition and publication formed successive stages of distribution. One object summoned an audience; another was intended to remain after the rooms had been dismantled.

By 1977, Picabia could be read not only through Dada and Surrealism but as a precedent for a younger art world concerned with appropriation, stylistic inconsistency and the circulation of existing images. Galerie Marzona's programme created a particularly fitting context for that return.

The card was made for a specific place and evening. Its original function expired in November 1977. What remains is the route by which Picabia was temporarily reintroduced: through Man Ray's photograph, a Düsseldorf address and a folded piece of paper moving from gallery to recipient.

Offset-printed folded card; black-and-white portrait by Man Ray; gallery map and exhibition information; text in German. 10 × 15 cm folded, 20 × 15 cm unfolded. Dimensions to be confirmed.

Condition: Good vintage condition. General handling and surface wear, with light creasing, age toning, minor edge and corner softening and faint marks. Original fold remains intact; complete and fully legible.

Securely packed; tracked UK and international shipping available.