The beautiful butcher 

Francis Picabia created "The Beautiful Butcher," though its specific date remains unknown, in the midst of the early 20th century's seismic shifts in art and society. Picabia was a prominent figure in the Dada movement, which emerged during World War I as a revolt against tradition, reason, and the bourgeois values that had led to war. Dada artists sought to challenge social norms and question established notions of beauty. Looking at this work it's as though Picabia has mashed together conventional beauty with a brutish or working class trade. The face is rendered in pinks, reds, and yellows and adorned with what appear to be combs. In contrast, the figure has a severe black suit on, and the hands look like meat hooks. Picabia once said, "If you want to have clean ideas, change them like shirts." This urge to disrupt and transform is alive in "The Beautiful Butcher." The painting questions how identity is constructed, as it dismantles and reassembles notions of beauty, gender, class, and profession. It encourages us to challenge societal expectations and celebrate the complexities of the self.