Description:Using varied tones of yellow, purple and green, Villon creates an image of bifurcated visual plains that intrigue the eye. Contrasting the pastoral fields of the country with the modernity of the cubist aesthetic, the artist creates an image that represents the colliding lifestyles of the modern period.
This image was created as an illustration for Paul Valéry's volume entitled Les Bucoliques which was written between 1942-1944 for the Society Scripta and Picta. The twenty illustrations for the volume were drawn on stone by Jacques Villon with each color having a unique stone, 320 in all. The edition was printed by Célestin on the Mourlot press. This particular work is one of the few examples which were hand-signed by the artist.
Grazing animals descend right to left on a forty-five degree angel across the picture plain. Villon offers a unique abstraction of nature by reducing the environment that inspired the image while including the organic forms of sheep and horses, heighting the angularity of the image. The artist's use of coloration further lends a sense of the pastoral with the warmth of the yellow, the lush green and the rich purple.
The work of Jacque Villon maybe compared to Archipenko, Arp, Braque, Cocteau, Leger, Moore, Papart and Picasso.
Catalogue Raisonné & COA:
It is fully documented and referenced in (copies will be enclosed as added documentation with the invoices that I will accompany the final sale of the work) :
1) Ginestet, Colette de and Pouillon, Catherine, Jacques Villon: Les Estampes et Les Illustrations Catalogue Raisonné, 1979 listed on page 376-377 listed as image E 572.
About the Framing:
Les Bucoliques is framed in a Rococo inspired frame with fluid gilt feather detailing. The guilt tones of the frame enhance the coloration of the image while the dark wood tones and inner fillet compliment the geometric composition. The framing is completed with cream linen mattes.
