The Architect of Geometric Light: The Life and Legacy of Jacques Villon Jacques Villon, born Émile Méry Frédéric Gaston Duchamp, was far more than a mere participant in the avant-garde; he was a foundational architect of modern visual language. Born in 1875 in the quiet region of Normandy, his early life was steeped in an artistic lineage that would eventually shape the course of twentieth-century art. As the elder brother to the legendary Marcel Duchamp, the sculptor Raymond Duchamp-Villon, and the painter Suzanne Duchamp-Crotti, Villon emerged from a family where creativity was as much a v…