Camille Renault
Jacques Villon
French, 1875–1963
1945
An intimate etching in which Jacques Villon renders a seated sitter, using delicate etched lines and cross‑hatching to suggest weight, volume, and a reflective presence.
You’re struck by a web of diagonal strokes that both defines and dissolves the figure—the face reduced to a pale oval with minimal features while the arms and torso emerge from overlapping, energetic hatchwork.
Dating from 1945, the print translates Villon’s Cubist‑influenced interest in structure and rhythm into a spare, modernist portrait, showing how printmaking can distill the human form into expressive, abstracted line.
Medium
Etching
Dimensions
plate: 15 13/16 x 12 7/16" (40.2 x 31.6 cm); sheet: 24 5/8 x 18 3/4" (62.6 x 47.7 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of Victor S. Riesenfeld
Accession
382.1948
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
