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  • Art dealer
  • Publisher
· French · 1866–1939

Ambroise Vollard

Dealer of the rue Laffitte who gave Cézanne his first solo show, wrote an early Renoir biography, and arranged the sculpture collaboration between the arthritic Renoir and Richard Guino.

In images

Details

Lived
1866–1939
Born
1866
Died
1939
Nationality
French
Roles
Art dealerPublisher

Art Depicting Ambroise Vollard

Works with Ambroise as their subject.

Bonnard's portrait of Ambroise Vollard: a bald, bearded man in a dark suit sits hunched with his eyes lowered and a grey-brown tabby cat on his lap, in front of brown wainscot, with framed paintings above him and large blank canvases in grey-lilac and salmon-pink stacked at the right

Artwork reproduction

Painting

Portrait of Ambroise Vollard with a Cat

Pierre Bonnard · c. 1924 · Oil on canvas

Ambroise Vollard sits in the middle of a room crowded with pictures, a small tabby cat on his lap. Pierre Bonnard painted the Paris dealer bald, bearded and hunched, his eyes lowered, in a dark suit that goes almost black against the woodwork behind him. The Petit Palais says the cat was a device Bonnard thought up to stop his sitter falling asleep. Vollard's heirs gave the canvas to the City of Paris in 1950.

Petit Palais, musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris

Pierre Bonnard, Portrait of Ambroise Vollard with a Cat, c. 1924. Petit Palais, musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris. Image: CC0.

People Ambroise Vollard Knew

Relationships with other people, with sources for each connection.

Illustrated portrait of Paul Cézanne

Paul Cézanne

  • Painter

Patron of · 1895

In 1895 Monet and his fellow Impressionists convinced the dealer Ambroise Vollard to mount a show dedicated to Cézanne — the exhibition that began the painter's late rise from obscurity.

— Cézanne: The Artist's Artist

Illustrated portrait of Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Pierre-Auguste Renoir

  • Painter
  • Sculptor

Met

Dealer and early cataloguer of Renoir's work — Vollard published a volume of his paintings, pastels, and drawings in 1918, and museum provenance trails run through his stock: the Orangerie's Gabrielle et Jean and the National Gallery's portrait of Suzanne Valadon both left the studio through Vollard.

— Suzanne Valadon (Auguste Renoir, c. 1885) — National Gallery of Art; Gabrielle et Jean (Auguste Renoir) — Musée de l'Orangerie

Illustrated portrait of Pierre Bonnard

Pierre Bonnard

  • Painter
  • Illustrator

Collaborated with · 1900

Vollard published Bonnard's landmark illustrated edition of Verlaine's Parallèlement in 1900 and Daphnis and Chloe in 1902, allowing image and typography to share the page.

— Parallèlement, illustrated by Pierre Bonnard; Daphnis and Chloe, illustrated by Pierre Bonnard

Connections and Sources

Ambroise Vollard’s connections to people, places, and works, with the sources behind each one.

Patron of · 1895

Paul Cézanne

In 1895 Monet and his fellow Impressionists convinced the dealer Ambroise Vollard to mount a show dedicated to Cézanne — the exhibition that began the painter's late rise from obscurity.

— Cézanne: The Artist's Artist

Met

Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Dealer and early cataloguer of Renoir's work — Vollard published a volume of his paintings, pastels, and drawings in 1918, and museum provenance trails run through his stock: the Orangerie's Gabrielle et Jean and the National Gallery's portrait of Suzanne Valadon both left the studio through Vollard.

— Suzanne Valadon (Auguste Renoir, c. 1885) — National Gallery of Art; Gabrielle et Jean (Auguste Renoir) — Musée de l'Orangerie

Collaborated with · 1900

Pierre Bonnard

Vollard published Bonnard's landmark illustrated edition of Verlaine's Parallèlement in 1900 and Daphnis and Chloe in 1902, allowing image and typography to share the page.

— Parallèlement, illustrated by Pierre Bonnard; Daphnis and Chloe, illustrated by Pierre Bonnard

Depicted in · 1924

Portrait of Ambroise Vollard with a Cat

The Petit Palais names the sitter in its own title and description, placing Ambroise Vollard on a chair with a small cat on his knees in a room crowded with pictures.

— Portrait d'Ambroise Vollard au chat, PPP3052

References

References

The sources below include biographies, scholarly essays, interviews, and primary materials that informed this page. They reflect both the historical record and ongoing critical conversations about Ambroise Vollard and their work.

  1. 1Suzanne Valadon (Auguste Renoir, c. 1885) — National Gallery of Art

    Website
    National Gallery of Art
    Used for

    Web source consulted for documented facts and historical context presented on the Ambroise Vollard page.

    View source
  2. 2Gabrielle et Jean (Auguste Renoir) — Musée de l'Orangerie

    Website
    Musée de l'Orangerie
    Used for

    Web source consulted for documented facts and historical context presented on the Ambroise Vollard page.

    View source
  1. 3Cézanne: The Artist's Artist

    Website
    Art Institute of Chicago
    Used for

    Web source consulted for documented facts and historical context presented on the Ambroise Vollard page.

    View source
  2. 4Ambroise Vollard — Modern Art Index Project

    Website
    The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2015
    Used for

    Web source consulted for documented facts and historical context presented on the Ambroise Vollard page.

    View source
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Why these sources are here

These references anchor the page in the documented record and in the scholarly conversations around Ambroise Vollard. Every claim on this page traces back to one or more of the works listed here.

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