I. FROM THE ISLAND OF LA REUNION TO THE FACULTE DE DROIT IN PARIS
II. ARRIVAL IN PARIS: THE Q.UARTIER LATIN AND MONTMARTRE
III. A GOLDEN AGE FOR THE COLLECTORS
IV. MY APPRENTICESHIP AT THE UNION ARTISTIQUE
V. COMMENCE PICTURE DEALER
VI. AT MADAME MANET'S
VII. CEZANNE AND VAN GOGH

VIII. MY NEIGHBOURS
IX. THE STREET OF PICTURES
X. THE CELLAR
XI. ALFRED JARRY AND GUILLAUME APOLLINAIRE
XII. CONNOISSEURS AND COLLECTORS
XIII. CONNOISSEURS AND COLLECTORS
XIV. CONNOISSEURS AND COLLECTORS
XV. CONNOISSEURS AND COLLECTORS
XVI. THE STEINS AND OTHER AMERICANS

XVII. GERMAN CRITICS AND COLLECTORS

XVIII. BEFORE MANET'S OLYMPIA AT THE LOUVRE
XIX. THE STUDIOS OF MEISSONIER AND OTHERS
XX. CEZANNE'S HOME AT AIX
XXI. SOME MORE IMPRESSIONISTS
XXII. TWO SCULPTORS: MAILLOL AND RODIN
XXIII. GEORGES ROUAULT: DOUANIER ROUSSEAU: PICASSO
XXIV. MY PORTRAITS
XXV. MALLARME AND ZOLA
XXVI. LE SAR PELADAN AND THE ROSICRUCIANS
XXVII. STATESMEN AND JOURNALISTS
XXVIII. THE" PRIX DES PEINTRERES
XXIX. AMBROISE VOLLARD, PUBLISHER
XXX. AMBROISE VOLLARD, AUTHOR
XXXI. THE WAR
XXXII. PAINTING AND THE WAR
XXXIII. MY HOMES: FONTAINEBLEAU: MAULDRE
XXXIV. PAINTING AF'TER THE WAR

EPILOGUE

INDEX

Celebrity, art merchant, socialite, publisher, and writer, Ambroise Vollard (1867-1939) was one of the most extraordinary figures in 20th-century art. He possessed an uncanny ability to recognize genius in painters — dozens of important artists received valuable commissions and gallery space with his help, and his galleries presented the first one-man shows for such luminaries as Matisse, Cézanne, and Picasso. Vollard's warmth, candor, and intelligence earned him the friendship of a generation of artists and make this memoir an enthralling and often hilarious account of an exciting Golden Age of painting.
Vollard's anecdotal recollections transport the reader to Paris at the turn of the 20th century and the legendary "Street of Pictures," the rue Laffitte, where Vollard lived and worked. Rather than critiquing artists or esthetic movements, Vollard focuses on the human sidelights that made his life as picture dealer so rich and fascinating: his early efforts to sell the works of Cézanne, despite incredible opposition to Impressionism; his dinner parties, whose guests included Renoir, Forain, Degas, Redon, and Rodin; his many portrait sittings for Cézanne, Renoir, Rouault, Bonnard, Forain, and Picasso; his observation on the studios, habits, and personalities of Manet, Matisse, Picasso, de Groux, Signac, and Rousseau; and his encounters with Gertrude Stein, Alfred Jarry, Guillaume Apollinaire, Mallarmé, and Zola.