3564 - VILLEGLÉ, JACQUES DE LA (Quimper 1926 – 2022 Paris) *: "Boulevard de l'Hôpital"

VILLEGLÉ, JACQUES DE LA (Quimper 1926 – 2022 Paris) *: "Boulevard de l'Hôpital" Décollage: Poster fragments on canvas signed lower right, dated “octobre” 1962 and titled on the reverse 123x93 cm, framed * The hammer price is also subject to VAT. - Provenance: Gallery 44, Kaarst-Düsseldorf, 1987 (label on the reverse); Galerie Georges-Philippe & Nathalie Vallois, Paris, 2007 (label on the reverse); European private collection. Certificate of authenticity: Jacques Villeglé, Paris, March 10, 2007. Exhibitions: *Les Affichistes selon Villeglé*, Galerie Art & Essai, Université Villejean, Rennes, April 1985; *And the beat goes on. Helme Prinzen and the Stiftung Junge Kunst*, Kunstsammlung NRW Düsseldorf, May 17–August 17, 2003 (label on the reverse); Jacques Villeglé, *La lettre lacérée. Affiches lacérées 1955–1992*, Galerie Georges-Philippe & Nathalie Vallois, Paris, September 28–November 10, 2007; From Transgression to Collection 1947–2008. The Journey of a Body of Work, Musée départemental d’Art ancien et contemporain, Épinal, May 23–September 1, 2008 (with illustration in the exhibition catalog, p. 46); Nouveau Réalisme, Kunsthalle Krems, Krems-Stein, November 21, 2010 – February 20, 2011. The body of work by the Breton artist Jacques de la Villeglé bears witness to his immense conceptual and experimental output, which challenged the boundaries of the definition of art. Even as a young man, Villeglé collected trash from the streets and rearranged it as art. Later, he roamed the nighttime streets of Paris with Raymond Hains, tearing down advertising posters that were then pasted onto canvases in new combinations. They referred to their art as “Décollages” and to themselves as “Affichistes” (poster-rippers). In doing so, they created a wild and improvised art form that drew on the contemporary visual landscape while simultaneously critiquing capitalist throwaway culture. Their actions caused a major sensation in European art circles, and some saw them as the forerunners of what would later become street art. Together with Yves Klein, Daniel Spoerri, Jean Tinguely, and others, Villeglé was a co-founder of Nouveau Réalisme. The French artist created this large-scale work, featuring a diverse range of motifs, on a night in October 1962 on the famous Boulevard de l’Hôpital in Paris, which runs from the Place d’Italie to the Gare d’Austerlitz. This major thoroughfare in the French capital is known for its very large advertising posters—an ideal workplace for the poster artist Villeglé. Auction start time: November 6, 2026, 3:45 p.m.