Yvonne D. from the Front
1913
Medium
drypoint
Dimensions
plate: 55.1 x 41.2 cm (21 11/16 x 16 1/4 in.) sheet: 63.9 x 59.5 cm (25 3/16 x 23 7/16 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of The Judith Rothschild Foundation in Honor of Andrew Robison
Accession Number
2007.108.3
Art Historical Context
Jacques Villon’s *Yvonne D. from Front* (1913) is a striking drypoint print that captures the avant-garde spirit of pre-World War I Paris. Villon, born Gaston Duchamp and brother to Cubist pioneers Marcel Duchamp and Raymondamp-Villon, was masterful printmaker who bridged Impressionism and Cubism. This intimate portrait, measuring 55.1 x 41.2 cm on the plate, exemplifies his involvement with the Section d’Or group, where geometric abstraction met human form. Drypoint technique shines here: Villon scratched directly into a copper plate, raising a soft burr that yields velvety, textured lines f...
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...