One of the most influential art styles of the early twentieth century, Cubism first emerged in 1907. The method abandoned the artistic replication of perspective from a single view point, instead creating images with geometric shapes and interlocking planes. Organized in part by French artist Jacques Villon (1875–1963), The Puteaux Group and their 1912 exhibition La Section d'Or were responsible for expanding knowledge of this early abstract method, cementing the group as crucial for the Cubist movement's influence and legacy.
Jacques Villon in his studio © Alexander Liberman Photography Archive, 1925-1998, Getty Research Institute, Accession no. 2000.R.19.
Né Jacques Duchamp, Villon changed his last name when he began submitting his art to various magazines in the 1890s. In 1895, he enrolled in the École des Beaux-Arts and frequented the Atelier Cormon. He became a graphic artist, contributing posters, cartoons, and illustrations to Parisian publications. Remaining an active figure in Montmartre, in 1903 he helped organize the drawing section at the first Salon d'Automne in Paris and from 1904 to 1905 he studied at the Académie Julian. After several successful salons and exhibitions in the early 1900s, the artist settled in Puteaux in 1906, where he devoted himself to painterly pursuits.
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In 1910, Villon officially moved away from illustrations and the stylistic choices of his early work, instead committing himself to painting in a Cubist style. Between 1911 and 1913, he hosted a group of artists at his studio in Puteaux. Together, they would discuss the parameters of Cubism including the movement's roots and goals. This collective included Alexander Archipenko, Albert Gleizes, Juan Gris, František Kupka, Fernand Léger, Jean Metzinger, and Villon's brothers Raymond Duchamp and Marcel Duchamp. The group became formally known as the Puteaux Group. |
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Jacques Villon. Étude pour Puteaux, No. 3, 1912. Oil on canvas |
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Pictured above, Étude pour Puteaux, No. 3 (1912) was painted directly after Villon founded the Puteaux Group and was exhibited in The 1913 Armory Show in New York. The fragmented, multifaceted abstraction of this piece produces a dreamlike effect characteristic of the Puteaux Group's early works. |
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By 1912, The Puteaux Group had developed a fully formed method of Cubism and mounted their first exhibition to honor this achievement. Entitled La Section d'Or, the exhibit was curated to show the successive stages through which Cubism had transited. This landmark display was accompanied by the publishing of Du "Cubisme," the first explanation of the method. Written by Gleizes and Metzinger, the manifesto reassessed the spatial conventions of Western art and presented an effective rebuttal with their artistic method of choice. |
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Jacques Villon, Le coquillage, 1933. Oil on canvas |
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The meticulous curation of the 1912 Section d'Or exhibition coinciding with the publication of Du "Cubisme" demonstrated the Puteaux Group's deliberate effort to render their work accessible and comprehensible to a broad audience, including art critics, collectors, dealers, and the general public. The significant success of the group's exhibition, spearheaded by organizer Villon, unequivocally established Cubism as a distinct style within the art world, characterized by a unified philosophy and goal, marking it as a pioneering avant-garde movement. Works by Jacques Villon are on view through September 20 in Variations of Geometric Abstractions. To see all works in the exhibition, click here. |
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