Vollard, Ambroise

(1868-1939)

   art dealer, writer, editor

   Born in Saint-Denis, Île de la Réunion, Ambroise Vollard, who played an important role in the history of painting, organized the first exhibitions of edouard manet, paul cézanne (1893), vincent van gogh and the nabis (1899), Pablo Picasso (1901), henri matisse (1904), maurice de vlaminck and andré derain (1906), and georges rouault, while going against the popular tastes of the period. He also helped make auguste rodin and Aristide maillol well known. From 1900 to 1910, Vollard had his shop at 6, rue Lafitte; it became a celebrated meeting place of artists of the period and their patrons. Cézanne, auguste renoir, raoul dufy, pierre bonnard, Picasso, and Rouault all painted Vollard's portrait. Vollard wrote several works on the painters whom he knew, in particular, Paul Cézanne (1914), Renoir (1920), and Degas (1924). He is the author of Souvenirs d'un marchand de tableaux(1939).