COLLECTION

Last April, Christopher Jones traveled to Paris, he spent an afternoon with Yolande Candel. The daughter of Gustave Candel, Yolande entertained The Ringling’s associate curator with stories of her father’s close relationship with Marcel Duchamp. Duchamp, considered by many critics to be one of the most important artists of the 20th century, influenced the development of post–World War I Western art and made a seminal impact on conceptual art.

When Duchamp first moved to Paris in 1908 it was from the Candel family that he rented his first apartment. Several years apart in age, Gustave became enamored with the artist’s work. The two spent many nights in cafés and taverns, forming a bond that would prove to be a lifelong friendship. In fact, it was Gustave who facilitated Duchamp’s escape from Nazi occupied France in 1941. The Candel family owned a prosperous cheese business and Gustave created paper work purporting that the artist worked as part of their shipping services.

In the early years of the 20th century Duchamp was just beginning his career as an artist. His work from this period differs dramatically from the well-known cubist painting Nude Descending a Staircase, No 2 and his “Readymades” such as Fountain that followed World War I. The Ringling holds five paintings from this developing period, which are on view in the Huntington gallery. Included in this group is Portrait d’un jeune garcon de la famille Candel, which depicts an adopted brother of Gustave. It was a knowledge of these holdings that inspired Yolande to contact The Ringling.

When Jones visited that spring day to pick up the Duchamp drawing which would be gifted to The Ringling, he was astounded when Yolande pulled out a cardboard box with 53 postcards showing correspondence that had taken place between her father and Duchamp over a lifetime. Yolande wanted these pieces to reside in an institution that recognized the significance of Duchamp’s early work and that had a connection to her family history. The collection was officially accepted by The Ringling this past fall.

“Hearing Yolande speak of her father and Duchamp and reading these postcards was like stepping back in time. I am thrilled that the drawings and postcards will be added to The Ringling collections,” remarked Jones.