SwissArtGallery · Documented identity
The son of the painter Michel Kikoïne, Jacques Yankel (1920–2020) turned to painting after studying geology and working in science for several years. Settling in Toulouse in 1941, he continued his studies at the faculty of sciences and worked as an assistant geologist. In 1949, the Ministry of Colonies engaged him to contribute to the geological map of Gao-Tombouctou-Tabankort in French West Africa. Returning to Paris in 1952, he rejoined La Ruche and made his debut as a painter at the Lara Vinci gallery. His first solo exhibitions included one at the Musée Sainte-Croix in Poitiers in 1955, followed by exhibitions at the Romanet gallery in Paris in 1957, 1958 and 1962.
His stay in French West Africa fostered his interest in African art, which he began to collect. In his studio in the Ardèche, he developed assemblages of disparate objects on paper or canvas; reliquaries and ex-votos also formed part of his work, incorporating elements drawn from craft, industrial or urban contexts. After his father’s death, he drew in particular on literature and the Torah. He also painted pebbles incorporated into cement slabs and created projects intended for architecture. From 1968 to 1985, he taught visual arts at the École des beaux-arts de Paris. In 1985–1986, he curated an exhibition devoted to African arts at the Musée des arts africains et océaniens in Paris.
He took part in the Salon de la Jeune Peinture in Paris in 1954 and 1955, and then in the São Paulo Biennial in 1957. He also worked with the Yoshii gallery in Paris and Tokyo. Works recorded in public collections include a work from 1996 at the École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts de Paris, as well as Pigalle la nuit, a watercolour, and the lithographs Saint-Germain-des-Prés and Port at the Musée d’Art moderne de la Ville de Paris. His work was also presented in exhibitions in Béziers in 2013 and at the Claire Corcia gallery in 2023.
This profile brings together identity references for Jacques Yankel and paintings, drawings and works on paper documented in auction catalogues.
DognyAuction · Genève Enchères
References include catalogue entries and available results; they do not all represent completed sales. Attributed works and special lots are excluded from the priced results.
Oil on cardboard
Moulin Rouge
huile sur carton
Catalogue period : 2016-04-21
Published result : 750 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 600–800
View the lot at the auction house ↗Oil on canvas
Jacques YANKEL (1920-2020), 'Ruelle', huile
huile sur toile
Date to be documented
Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed
Estimate : CHF 800–900
View the lot at the auction house ↗
Oil on panel
Jacques YANKEL (1920-2020), 'La marchande'
huile sur panneau
Date to be documented
Published result : 324 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
View the lot at the auction house ↗Oil on panel
La marchande
huile sur panneau
Date to be documented
Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed
Estimate : CHF 500–800
View the lot at the auction house ↗SwissArtGallery documentary note based on the cited sources. Titles, media and qualifications are provided in the profile language; the original catalogue wording remains available in each record.
Profile updated :
Recently enriched profiles
Born in Kristiania, now Oslo, Thore Heramb (1916–2014) was a Norwegian painter whose career combined an early presence in exhibitions with decorative commissions and a body of work d…
1 auction referenceBorn in 1971 in Clatterbridge, United Kingdom, and died in 2025 in London, Alastair Mackinven trained in art in Canada and London. He obtained a BA in Fine Arts from the Alberta Coll…
1 auction referencePainter, lithographer and illustrator, Georges-Charles Laporte developed a body of work in which seascape painting sits alongside a substantial body of illustration, notably for text…
67 auction references