Editing Jacques Villon

{{Short description|French painter (1875–1963)}}

[[File:Marcel Duchamp, Jacques Villon, Raymond Duchamp-Villon in the garden of Villon's studio, Puteaux, France, c.1913.jpg|350px|thumb|right|Three Duchamp brothers, left to right: [[Marcel Duchamp]], Jacques Villon, and [[Raymond Duchamp-Villon]] in the garden of Jacques Villon's studio in Puteaux, France, 1914, ([[Smithsonian Institution]] collections.)]]
[[File:Villon petit manege.jpg|thumb|200px|''Le Petit Manège, rue Caulaincourt'', 1905, [[Museums at the University of Michigan|University of Michigan Museum of Art]]]]
'''Jacques Villon''' (July 31, 1875 &ndash; June 9, 1963), also known as '''Gaston Duchamp''', was a French [[Cubist]] and [[Abstract art|abstract]] painter and printmaker.

==Early life==
Born '''Émile Méry Frédéric Gaston Duchamp'''<ref name="Léonore">[http://www.culture.gouv.fr/public/mistral/leonore_fr?ACTION=RETROUVER&FIELD_1=Cnoms&VALUE_1=duchamp&FIELD_2=PRENOMS&VALUE_2=&FIELD_3=DATE%2dNSS&VALUE_3=&FIELD_4=LIEU%2dNSS&VALUE_4=&FIELD_5=Nom%20de%20jeune%20fille&VALUE_5=&FIELD_6=SEXE&VALUE_6=%20&FIELD_7=COTE&VALUE_7=&NUMBER=7&GRP=0&REQ=%28%28duchamp%29%20%3aNOM%2cNOM2%2cNOM%2dJF%2cNOM%2dMARI%2cSURNOM%2cNOTES%20%29&USRNAME=nobody&USRPWD=4%24%2534P&SPEC=9&SYN=1&IMLY=&MAX1=1&MAX2=1&MAX3=100&DOM=All Archives nationales de France, Base de données Léonore]</ref> in [[Damville, Eure|Damville]], Eure, in [[Normandy]], France, he came from a prosperous and artistically inclined family. While he was a young man, his maternal grandfather Émile Frédéric Nicolle, a successful businessman and artist, educated Villon and his siblings.

Gaston Duchamp was the elder brother of:
*[[Raymond Duchamp-Villon]] (1876–1918), sculptor
*[[Marcel Duchamp]] (1887–1968), painter, sculptor and author
*[[Suzanne Duchamp|Suzanne Duchamp-Crotti]] (1889–1963), painter

In 1894, he and his brother Raymond moved to [[Montmartre]] in Paris. There, he studied law at the [[University of Paris]], but received his father's permission to study art on the condition that he must continue studying law.

[[File:Jacques Villon, 1912, Girl at the Piano, oil on canvas, 129.2 x 96.4 cm, Museum of Modern Art, New York...jpg|thumb|left|Jacques Villon, 1912, ''Girl at the Piano (Fillette au piano)'', oil on canvas, 129.2 x 96.4 cm (51 x 37.8 in), oval, [[Museum of Modern Art]], New York. Exhibited at the 1913 [[Armory Show]], New York, Chicago and Boston. Purchased from the Armory Show by [[John Quinn (collector)|John Quinn]]<ref>[http://www.waterhousedodd.com/jacques-villon Waterhouse & Dodd, Jacques Villon]</ref><ref>Published in the [http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/viewer/walt-kuhn-scrapbook-press-clippings-documenting-armory-show-vol-1-6227 Tribune, 23 February 1913, See page 135]. Walt Kuhn scrapbook of press clippings documenting the Armory Show, vol. 1, 1913.</ref>]]

To distinguish himself from his siblings, Gaston Duchamp adopted the pseudonym of Jacques Villon as a tribute to the French medieval poet [[François Villon]]. In Montmartre, home to an expanding art community, Villon lost interest in the pursuit of a legal career, and for the next 10 years he worked in graphic media, contributing cartoons and illustrations to Parisian newspapers. His work appeared in the satirical weekly ''[[Le Courrier français (1884–1913)|Le Courrier français]]''.<ref>[http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb344299580/date Le Courrier français (Paris. 1884-1914), Bibliothèque nationale de France]</ref> Villon created only seven advertising posters in his career, all of which are in the soft styles of the Belle Epoque.<ref>[https://postergroup.com/collections/all/products/guinguette-fleurie-13409 Postergroup collections]</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Guinguette Fleurie|url=https://postergroup.com/products/guinguette-fleurie-13409|access-date=2020-10-26|website=The Ross Art Group|language=en}}</ref>

In 1903 he helped organize the drawing section of the first [[Salon d'Automne]] in Paris.<ref name="Salon 1903">[https://archive.org/details/cataloguedesouvr1903salo Salon d'automne; Société du Salon d'automne], Catalogue des ouvrages de peinture, sculpture, dessin, gravure, architecture et art décoratif. Exposés au Petit Palais des Champs-Élysées, 1903</ref> In 1904-1905 he studied art at the [[Académie Julian]].

At first, he was influenced by [[Edgar Degas]] and [[Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec]], but later he participated in the [[Fauvism|fauvist]], [[Cubism|Cubist]], and [[Abstract impressionism|abstract impressionist]] movements.

By 1906, Montmartre was a bustling community and Jacques Villon moved to [[Puteaux]] in the quiet outskirts of Paris. There, he began to devote more of his time to working in [[drypoint]], an [[intaglio (printmaking)|intaglio]] technique that creates dark, velvety lines that stand out against the white of the paper.  During this time he worked closely to develop his technique with other important printmakers such as [[Manuel Robbe]].

His isolation from the vibrant art community in Montmartre, together with his modest nature, ensured that he and his artwork remained obscure for a number of years.

[[File:Villon dining table.jpg|thumb|200px|Jacques Villon, 1912, ''The Dining Table'', oil on canvas, 65.7 × 81.3 cm, [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]], New York]]
[[File:Jacques Villon, 1913, Portrait of Marcel Duchamp, oil on canvas, 60 x 48.5 cm.jpg|thumb|Jacques Villon, 1913, ''Portrait of Marcel Duchamp'', oil on canvas, 60 x 48.5 cm]]
[[File:Jacques Villon, 1914, Portrait de M. J. B. peintre (Jacques Bon), oil on canvas, 121.92 x 81.28 cm, Columbus Museum of Art.jpg|thumb|Jacques Villon, 1914, ''Portrait de M. J. B. peintre'' (''Jacques Bon''), oil on canvas, 121.92 x 81.28 cm, [[Columbus Museum of Art]]]]

At his home, in 1911, he and his brothers Raymond and Marcel organized a regular discussion group with artists and critics such as [[Jean Metzinger]], [[Albert Gleizes]], [[Francis Picabia]], [[Robert Delaunay]], [[Fernand Léger]] and others that was soon dubbed the Puteaux Group (or the [[Section d'Or]]).<ref>''Jeunes Peintres ne vous frappez pas !'', La Section d’Or: Numéro spécial consacré à l’Exposition de la "Section d’Or", première année, n° 1, 9 octobre 1912, pp. 1-2.</ref><ref>[http://bibliothequekandinsky.centrepompidou.fr/imagesbk/RP225%5C001/M5050_X0031_PER_P02251912001.pdf ''Jeunes Peintres ne vous frappez pas !'', La Section d’Or: Numéro spécial consacré à l’Exposition de la "Section d’Or", première année, n° 1, 9 octobre 1912, pp. 1-7] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030080014/http://bibliothequekandinsky.centrepompidou.fr/imagesbk/RP225%5C001/M5050_X0031_PER_P02251912001.pdf |date=2020-10-30 }}, Bibliothèque Kandinsky</ref> Villon was instrumental in having the group exhibit under the name Section d'Or after the [[Golden ratio|golden section]] of classical mathematics. Their first show, [[Section d'Or#Salon de la Section d'Or, 1912|Salon de la Section d'Or]], held at the Galerie La Boétie in October 1912, involved more than 200 works by 31 artists.<ref name="La Section d'Or">[http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_s8JyxbYrSG0/TJZ4b_6VYNI/AAAAAAAABfo/5RCFXVta2yk/s1600/La+Section+d%27Or+numéro+spécial+9+octobre+1912+couv.jpg La Section d'Or, Numéro spécial, 9 Octobre 1912]</ref><ref>[http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/viewer/exhibit-catalog-salon-de-la-section-dor-15197 Exhibit catalog for Salon de "La Section d'Or", 1912. Walter Pach papers, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution]</ref>

In 1913, Villon created seven large drypoints in which forms break into shaded pyramidal planes. That year, he exhibited at the [[Armory Show]] in New York City, helping introduce European modern art to the United States. His works proved popular and all his art sold. From there, his reputation expanded so that by the 1930s he was better known in the United States than in Europe.<ref name="Pach">[https://books.google.com/books?id=j_9DhsBoyS4C&q=Metzinger,+Crotti,+Duchamp,+Gleizes,+Montross+Gallery,+known+as+The+Four+Musketeers Laurette E. McCarthy, Walter Pach, Walter Pach (1883–1958), ''The Armory Show and the Untold Story of Modern Art in America'', Penn State Press, 2011]</ref>

==Honors==
[[File:Jacques Villon Stained Glass Windows, Metz.jpg|thumb|Stained glass windows of Jacques Villon in the [[Metz Cathedral|Saint-Stephen Cathedral]] in [[Metz]].]]
An exhibition of Jacques Villon's work was held in Paris in 1944 at the Galerie [[Louis Carré (art dealer)|Louis Carré]], following which he received honors at a number of international exhibitions. In 1938 he was named Chevalier (Knight) of the [[Legion of Honor]]. In 1947 he was promoted to Officier (Officer) of the [[Legion of Honor]].<ref name="Léonore" /> In 1950, Villon received the [[Carnegie Prize]], the highest award for painting in the world, and in 1954 he was made a Commandeur (Commander) of the [[Legion of Honor]].<ref name="Léonore" /> The following year he was commissioned to design stained-glass windows for the cathedral at [[Metz]], France. In 1956 he was awarded the Grand Prix at the [[Venice Biennale]] exhibition.

Among Villon's greatest achievements as a printmaker was his creation of a purely graphic language for cubism&nbsp;– an accomplishment that no other printmaker, including his fellow cubists [[Pablo Picasso]] or [[Georges Braque]], could claim.

Villon died in his studio at [[Puteaux]].

In 1967, in [[Rouen]], his last surviving artist brother Marcel helped organize an exhibition called ''Les Duchamp: Jacques Villon, Raymond Duchamp-Villon, Marcel Duchamp, Suzanne Duchamp''. Some of this family exhibition was later shown at the [[Musée National d'Art Moderne]] in Paris.

Many important museums include works by Villon in their collections, including the [[Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco]]; [[Minneapolis Institute of Arts]]; [[Museum of Fine Arts, Boston]]; [[Art Institute of Chicago]]; [[Columbus Museum of Art]] (Columbus, Ohio); [[Museum of Modern Art]], New York City; [[University of Michigan Museum of Art]] (Ann Arbor, Michigan); [[National Gallery of Art]], Washington D.C.; [[Art Gallery of New South Wales]] (Sydney, Australia); [[Bibliothèque Nationale]], Paris; and [[Musée Jenisch]] ([[Vevey]], Switzerland).

Leading private collections which include the works of Villon are the Joachim Collection of Chicago, the Vess Collection of Detroit, and the Ginestet Collection of Paris.

==Art market==
In May 2004, an oil painting by Villon dated 1913 entitled ''L'Acrobate'' and measuring 39 ¼ by 28 ¼ inches sold at [[Sotheby's]] for $1,296,000 (US dollars).

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
*Tomkins, Calvin, ''Duchamp: A Biography''. Henry Holt and Company, Inc., 1996. {{ISBN|0-8050-5789-7}}

==External links==
*[http://hdl.handle.net/10079/fa/beinecke.steeg Francis Steegmuller Collection of Jacques Villon]. General Collection, [[Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library]], [[Yale University]].
*[http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/villon_jacques.html Artcyclopedia] Links to Villon's works
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070220172921/http://www.jacquesvillon.info/index.html Jacques Villon.info]
*[https://exchange.umma.umich.edu/quick_search/query?utf8=true&q=artist:%22Jacques%20Villon%22 Works by Jacques Villons] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210724101234/https://exchange.umma.umich.edu/quick_search/query?utf8=true&q=artist:%22Jacques%20Villon%22 |date=2021-07-24 }} at the [[University of Michigan Museum of Art]]
*https://postergroup.com/collections/all/products/guinguette-fleurie-13409

{{Marcel Duchamp}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Villon, Jacques}}
[[Category:1875 births]]
[[Category:1963 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century French painters]]
[[Category:French male painters]]
[[Category:20th-century French painters]]
[[Category:20th-century French male artists]]
[[Category:French abstract painters]]
[[Category:French cubist artists]]
[[Category:Académie Julian alumni]]
[[Category:Orphism (art)]]
[[Category:People from Eure]]
[[Category:Painters from Normandy]]
[[Category:20th-century French printmakers]]
[[Category:Sibling artists]]
[[Category:Color engravers]]
[[Category:19th-century French male artists]]