14 Facts About Jacques Yankel

Jacques Yankel, born Jakob Kikoine was a French painter, sculptor, and lithographer.

Five years after his sister, Claire, Yankel was born at the Boucicaut Hospital in Paris.

Jacques Yankel grew up in La Ruche in the 15th arrondissement of Paris, where his family stayed until 1926.

Jacques Yankel continued his studies and graduated with a degree in geology from the Faculte des sciences de Toulouse.

Jacques Yankel worked as an amateur painter in a group alongside Jean Hugon, Michel Goedgebuer, Bernard Pages, Christian Schmidt, Andre-Francois Vernette, and Jean Teulieres.

In 1949, Jacques Yankel was hired by the Ministry of the Overseas for the geological mapping of French West Africa.

Jacques Yankel unexpectedly met Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre while in Gao, the latter of which encouraged him to return to painting.

In 1952, Jacques Yankel returned to Paris, resettling in La Ruche, and made his public debut as a painter at the Galerie Lara Vinci on Rue de Seine.

Jacques Yankel won the Prix Neumann, shared with Reginald Pollack, as well as the Prix Feneon.

From 1957 to 1959, Jacques Yankel continued to exhibit and travel in the Maghreb, the Balearic Islands, Geneva, and Israel.

Jacques Yankel's father died in 1968, the same year in which he was hired as a plastic arts teacher at the ENSBA.

Jacques Yankel continued teaching until 1985, and students from the Ecole des Beaux- Arts d'Abidjan continued visiting his workshop.

Jacques Yankel subsequently presented Arts africains - Sculptures d'hier, peintures d'aujourd'hui, an exhibition organized by the Association pour la defense et l'illustration des arts d'Afrique et d'Oceanie and displayed at the Palais de la Porte Doree in Paris.

Jacques Yankel died on 2 April 2020 in Labeaume, 12 days before his 100th birthday.