THE WALTER PACH COLLECTION (LOTS ???-???) Walter Pach (1883-1958), American artist and critic, was one of the earliest and most ardent promoters of modern art in the early twentieth century and without him the history of modern art in America would have been quite different. While living in Paris off and on between the autumn of 1907 and early 1913, Pach became close friends with the most vanguard artists of his time, especially those of the Puteaux Group including Jacques Villon, Raymond Duchamp-Villon, Marcel Duchamp, Albert Gleizes, and Jean Metzinger. He also knew Pablo Picasso, André Derain, Georges Rouault, Odilon Redon, and Raoul Dufy quite well. In addition, he developed friendships with art dealers Ambroise Vollard, Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, Eugène Druet, Stéphan Bourgeois, and Felix Fénéon. These relationships enabled Pach to become an insider in the Parisian art world and helped shape his roles of critic, agent, exhibition organizer, and liaison between European artists and dealers, and American galleries, museums, and collectors. These connections proved vital for the dissemination of modern art across the United States, especially in the 1910s and 1920s. Pach served as the European agent for the famed 1913 Armory Show - a large-scale exhibition held in New York, Chicago, and Boston which introduced much of the advanced Parisian art to the general public for the first time. Without Pach this show would have been a completely different event; it was Pach who selected Marcel Duchamp's Nude Descending a Staircase, No.2 for inclusion in the show, a decision that has shaped the course of contemporary art in the United States for almost a century. During the teens, 20s and 30s, Pach remained an outspoken champion of modern, particularly Parisian, art. He was Henri Matisse's first agent in America, from 1912 until the artist's son Pierre arrived in New York in 1924. Pach was also the European representative for the Montross, Carroll, and Bourgeois Galleries in Manhattan throughout World War I and helped organize groundbreaking exhibitions which included works by the Duchamp-Villon brothers, Gleizes, Metzinger, Redon, Marcel Gromaire and Jean Crotti, among others. In addition, he was an advisor to prominent modern art collectors such as John Quinn and Walter and Louise Arensberg. The history of modern art criticism would also have been very different without the work of Walter Pach. His knowledge of the history of art, his understanding of the theories behind post-impressionism, fauvism, and cubism, plus his friendships with the vanguard Parisian artists made him the ideal person to promote transnational modernism across the North American continent. He wrote hundreds of articles and several books including: The Masters of Modern Art (1924), in which Derain's Portrait de Mme. Derain and Gleizes's Toul are illustrated, and Raymond Duchamp-Villon, Sculpteur, 1876-1918 (1924). Pach was also the first to translate Eugène Delacroix's Journal into English and he translated noted French art historian Elie Faure's five-volume work, History of Art (1921-1930). In addition, Pach lectured extensively across the United States and in Canada and Mexico. His writings and talks on modern art were instrumental in winning the battle for its acceptance in North America. In recognition of his enduring efforts on behalf of French art, artists, and culture Walter Pach was awarded the high distinction of Chevalier (Knight) in France's Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur in 1950.

Jacques Villon (1875-1963)

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Details

Jacques Villon (1875-1963)
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signed and dated 'Jacques Villon 33' (lower right)
oil on canvas
18 1/8 x 22¼in. (45.8 x 55.4cm.)
Painted in 1933

Provenance

Lucien Lefebvre-Foinet, Paris
Marie Harriman Gallery, New York

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Please note that Patrick Bongers has kindly confirmed the authenticity of this work.

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