Sheet of Figure Studies

This sheet of figure studies in purple ink reveals that Jacques Villon's style was, at times, closely related to that of his younger brother Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968). The long, elongated muscular figures in the lower half of the drawing resemble Duchamp's figures in the oil on canvas "Young Man and Girl in Spring" of 1911 (Galleria Arturo Schwarz, Milan) (Daniel Robbins, ed. Jacques Villon. Cambridge, 1976, no. 23a, p. 47). Perhaps the three dancing figures in the lower half of the sheet are related to Villon's etching, "L'Aide gracieuse" of 1907 (Boston, Print Department, Boston Public Library) (Daniel Robbins, ed. Jacques Villon, p. 40, no. 17).