Le Petit Atelier de Mécanique (The Little Machine Shop)
1914
Ginestet-Pouillon 289
Second state of two
Etching
6 5/16 × 7 3/4 in. (16.0 x 19.7 cm)
A very beautiful, richly inked impression on cream laid paper. Signed and with the inscription 'épreuve d'artiste - L'atelier de mécanique' (artist's proof - The machine shop) in pencil. Full margins. Edition of 50.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, Jacques Villon and his brother Marcel Duchamp were both fascinated with machines. In fact, Villon even worked in a machine workshop for a period of time. In this important, early Cubist etching, Villon is interested in the evocation of mechanical motion, which he renders with an elaborate composition of triangular planes and the use of a screen of fine parallel lines to create areas of light and shadows.
$10,000
Literature:
C. de Ginestet, C. Pouillon, 'Jacques Villon, Les Estampes et les Illustrations, Catalogue Raisonné', Paris, 1979.
I. H. Shoemaker, 'Jacques Villon and his Cubist Prints', Philadelphia, 2001.
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