Raymond Duchamp-Villon

Sculptor, born in Damville, NW France, the half-brother of Marcel Duchamp and brother of Jacques Villon. He studied medicine, then took up sculpture (1898) and was greatly influenced by Rodin. In 1910 he joined the Cubists and exhibited at the Section d'Or with his brothers. His masterpiece, ‘Horse’ (1914), represents the highest ideals of Cubist sculpture. He was gassed in 1916 and died two years later.

Duchamp-Villon was born Pierre-Maurice-Raymond Duchamp in Damville, Eure, in the Haute-Normandie region of France, the second son of Eugene and Lucie Duchamp. He was the brother of:

Jacques Villon (1875-1963), painter, printmaker Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968), painter, sculptor and author Suzanne Duchamp-Crotti (1889-1963), painter

From 1894 to 1898 Raymond Duchamp-Villon lived in the Montmartre Quarter of Paris with his brother Jacques and studied medicine at the Sorbonne.

In 1905 Duchamp-Villon had his first exhibition at the Salon d'Automne and a show at the Galerie Legrip in Rouen with his brother Jacques. Two years later they moved to the village of Puteaux at the outskirts of Paris where the three Duchamp brothers were part of the regular meetings of what became know as the Puteaux Group of artists and critics.

In 1911 he exhibited at the Galerie de l’Art Contemporain in Paris and the following year his work was included in a show organized by the Duchamp brothers at the Salon de la Section d’Or at the Galerie de la Boétie. All three of the Duchamp brothers then showed their work at the important Armory Show in New York City that helped introduce Modern Art to America.

In 1913 he took part in exhibitions at the Galerie André Groult in Paris, the Galerie S. (An original of this statue is on display at the Art Institute of Chicago.)

In late 1916, Raymond Duchamp-Villon contracted typhoid fever while stationed at the military quarters in Champagne.

In 1967, in Rouen, his last surviving artist brother Marcel helped organize an exhibition called Les Duchamp: Jacques Villon, Raymond Duchamp-Villon, Marcel Duchamp, Suzanne Duchamp. Some of this family exhibition was later shown at the Musée National d'Art Moderne in Paris.