Raymond Duchamp-Villon

Raymond Duchamp-Villon, born Pierre-Maurice-Raymond Duchamp in Damville on November 5, 1876 and died in Cannes on October 9, 1918 (at 41 years), is a French sculptor.

While still young, his maternal grandfather Émile Frédéric Nicolle, a busy businessman and artist, teaches art to his grandchildren. From 1894 to 1898, Raymond Duchamp-Villon lived with his brother Jacques in the Montmartre district during his medical studies in the Sorbonne. In 1898, a rheumatic fever, which left him partially disabled, obliged him to abandon his studies for some time. This unexpected event, which changes the course of his life, prompts him to develop his interest in sculpture. He began by producing small statuettes.

Essentially self-taught, it nevertheless quickly reaches a very high level of skill and finesse. In 1902 and 1903, he exhibited at the Salon of the National Society of Fine Arts. To differentiate himself from his brother Marcel Duchamp, and in reference to his brother Jacques Villon, he began to sign all his works "Duchamp-Villon".

His first exhibition took place in 1905 at the Salon d'automne and an exhibition at Galerie Legrip in Rouen with his brother Jacques. Two years later they moved to Puteaux in the Paris suburbs where the three Duchamp brothers were part of regular meetings of the group of artists and critics known since then as the Puteaux group. Raymond's reputation was such that he was named a member of the jury of the sculpture section of the Salon d'automne of 1907. He played a major role in the advent of cubism.

In 1911 he exhibited at the Galerie d'Art Contemporain in Paris and the following year his work was included in an exhibition organized by the Duchamp brothers at the Salon de la Section d'Or at the Galerie la Boétie. Each of the three Duchamp brothers then had the opportunity to present his work at the important Armory Show in New York which helped to introduce modern art to the United States. In 1913, he participated in the exhibitions of the Galerie André Groult in Paris, the Gallery of the artistic circle Mánes in Prague, and in 1914 in the gallery Der Sturm in Berlin.

Assigned to the medical services of the French army during the First World War, he managed to continue working on his main sculpture, Le Cheval, an original of which is now on display at the Art Institute of Chicago. At the end of 1916, he contracted typhoid fever while he was confined in Champagne. He is evacuated to the military hospital of Cannes where his promising career ends.

His premature death at the age of 41 explains why Raymond Duchamp-Villon, considered one of the pioneers of modern sculpture, remains little known.

In 1967, his brother Marcel helped mount an exhibition in Rouen entitled Les Duchamp: Jacques Villon, Raymond Duchamp-Villon, Marcel Duchamp and Suzanne Duchamp. A part of this family exhibition was then shown at the National Museum of Modern Art of the Center Georges-Pompidou in Paris.
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