The Bridge of Beaugency
1944
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
overall: 100 x 81.6 cm (39 3/8 x 32 1/8 in.) framed: 128.3 x 110.2 x 7.6 cm (50 1/2 x 43 3/8 x 3 in.)
Classification
Painting
Department
CMC
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon
Accession Number
1983.1.37
Art Historical Context
Jacques Villon’s *The Bridge of Beaugency (1944) captures a serene yet poignant view of the historic bridge spanning the Loire River in Beency, a charming town France’s Loire Valley. Painted in oil on canvas—a medium Villon mastered for its luminous depth and textural richness—this 100 x 81.6 cm work reflects the artist’s mature style during World War II. Villon, born Gaston Duch (brother of Marcel Duchamp), evolved from early Cubist experiments in the 1910s to a more lyrical, abstracted approach by the 1940s, blending geometric forms with poetic color and light. Created amid the turmoil of N...
About the Artist
Jacques Villon
Jacques Villon, born Gaston Émile Duchamp on July 31, 1875, in Damville, Normandy, hailed from a family brimming with artistic talent. As the eldest of six children, he grew up alongside his brothers Raymond Duchamp-Villon, a pioneering sculptor, and Marcel Duchamp, the renowned Dadaist, as well as his sister Suzanne Duchamp, also a painter. Their maternal grandfather, Émile Frédéric Nicolle, a pr...