Ambroise Vollard: Man for his Times!

Ambroise Vollard, the foremost Parisian art dealer of the early twentieth century and the man who gave Cezanne, Picasso, and Maillol their first one-man shows is the subject of the current show "Cezanne to Picasso" at the Art Institute of Chicago. The show's nearly three hundred items-prints, illustrated books, and bronzes-were all commisioned by Vollard and reveal him as the vortex of the Paris art world from the 1890's until his death in 1939.

A shrewd businessman, Vollard bought cheap and sold dear to adventurous collectors, such as H. O. Havemeyert, Gertrude and Leo Stein, and Alfred Barnes. With this fortune Vollard launched a second career as a publisher of prints and fine illustrated books. He commissioned graphics from Maurice Denis, Odilon Redon, Degas, Rouault, Bonnard, Toulouse-Lautrec, and Picasso. He also wrote biographies of his favorite artists, brought out bronze casts of sculptures by Maillol, Bonnard, Picasso, and Renoir, and found time somehow to sit for portraits.

A large, gruff, boorish fellow-who was once described as "looking like a giant ape"-he nevertheless inspired his artist friends: Picasso did a cubist study of him (shown above), Bonnard painted him as a genial host, and Renoir portrayed him as a toreador. "The most beautiful woman who ever lived," Picasso said,"never had her portrait painted, drawn, or engraved more often than Vollard."