VILLON, JACQUES

born July 31, 1875, Damville, Normandy, Fr. died June 9, 1963, Puteaux, near Paris pseudonym of Gaston mile Duchamp noted French painter and printmaker who helped bridge the gap between the purely abstract and the realistic schools of modern art. Villon was the brother of the artists Suzanne Duchamp (Crotti), Raymond Duchamp-Villon, and Marcel Duchamp. He prepared for a law career as a young man but in 1894 went to Paris, where he spent the next 12 years contributing illustrations and cartoons to newspapers. After 1906 he was able to devote himself primarily to painting. Villon's mature style of painting combined a Cubist use of flat, geometric shapes with a palette of luminous colours. He exhibited at early Cubist shows in Paris in 1911 and 1912 and in the New York City Armory Show in 1913. His compositions eventually brought him international acclaim after World War II. Called a master of the Paris school because of his influence on a generation of younger painters, Villon won the Grand Prix at the Venice Biennale in 1956. Villon's portraits and landscapes done after World War II marked a partial return to realistic treatment and were acclaimed for their synthesis of Impressionist colours and Cubist analysis of form. He was also a prolific printmaker. He completed more than 600 colour lithographs, drypoints, engravings, and etchings, among which were many illustrations of literary works by Racine, Hesoid, and Virgil. Two retrospective shows of his paintings and prints were held in New York City in 1953.