Ambroise Vollard
Ambroise Vollard (1866–1939) was a French art dealer and publisher who championed modern artists and commissioned illustrated books from them.
Paul Cézanne: A French painter whose work bridged nineteenth-century Impressionism and the development of modern art. Vollard’s 1895 exhibition of Cézanne’s paintings helped establish the artist’s public reputation.
Illustrated book: A book in which images form a substantial part of its content or interpretation. Vollard treated the illustrated book as a major format for modern art.
Paris art market: The network of dealers, collectors, galleries, and institutions through which art is bought and sold in Paris. Vollard built his business within a market increasingly open to modern artists.
Art dealer: A person or business that buys, sells, and promotes works of art. Vollard’s example shows how a dealer could also act as publisher and cultural broker.
Pablo Picasso: A Spanish artist whose paintings, sculptures, prints, and ceramics helped shape modern art. Vollard promoted Picasso early and commissioned his first major printmaking suite.
La Maison Tellier: A short-story collection by Guy de Maupassant, published in an illustrated edition with prints by Pierre Bonnard. Vollard commissioned Bonnard’s illustrations for this early landmark of his book publishing.
Impressionism: A nineteenth-century art movement that emphasized modern life and changing effects of light and color. Vollard’s early exhibitions drew on the market and artists shaped by Impressionism.
La Suite Vollard: A suite of one hundred etchings by Picasso, commissioned by Vollard and made between 1930 and 1937. The suite stands as the most extensive result of Vollard’s print commissions to Picasso.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir: A French painter known for Impressionist scenes of people, leisure, and everyday life. Vollard represented Renoir and published a catalogue of his paintings.
Le Chef-d’œuvre inconnu: Honoré de Balzac’s story about an obsessive painter and the uncertain boundary between art and illusion. Vollard published Picasso’s etchings for this edition, a major early print commission.