Jacques VILLON

Biography

Jacques Villon, pseudonym of Gaston Émile Duchamp was born on July 31, 1875 in Damville, Eure.

Coming from a well-to-do family, he received an artistic education at a very young age from his maternal grandfather.
He has 5 siblings including Raymond Duchamp-Villon (sculptor), Marcel Duchamp (painter, sculptor and author) and Suzanne Duchamp (painter).

In 1894, Gaston Duchamp moved with his brother Raymond to the Parisian district of Montmartre and studied law at the University of Paris. His father allowed him to study art on the condition that he continued to study law. To distinguish himself from his brothers, Gaston Duchamp adopted the pseudonym Jacques Villon, in reference to the poet of the Middle Ages.

He began by supplying drawings and illustrations to Parisian newspapers such as Le Courrier français, La Libre Parole illustrée, la Collection des cent, Cocorico, L'Assiette au beurre, Gil Blas. 

His career as a press cartoonist will mark the beginnings of his younger brother, Marcel, who will benefit from his contacts in the cartoonist world.

Influenced by Edgar Degas and Toulouse-Lautrec, Villon will take part later in the Fauvist and Cubist movements.
From 1911, he organized a discussion group at his home in Puteaux with his brothers Raymond and Marcel, which met regularly with artists and critics such as Francis Picabia, Robert Delaunay, Fernand Léger, Albert Gleizes, Jean Metzinger, Roger de La Fresnaye and others.

In 1913, Villon created his cubist masterpieces, seven large dry spikes where the shapes break into obscured pyramidal planes. The same year, he exhibited at the famous Armory Show in New York, which helped introduce modern art to the United States. His works were very popular and sold easily. His fame grew so much that by the 1930s he was better known in the United States than in Europe.

His last major achievement was the five bay windows for the Blessed Sacrament Chapel in Metz Cathedral in 1957.

He died on June 9, 1963 in Puteaux.