Vollard, Ambroise [key], 1867–1939, French art dealer, collector, and publisher. He was noted for his early recognition and sponsorship of leading artists of the school of Paris, especially Van Gogh, Cézanne, Matisse, Picasso (for whom he held the first one-man exhibitions), and Rouault. He made numerous comparatively small but very fortunate investments when there was no market for the works of these and other artists destined for tremendous fame. He accumulated their works for years and slowly sold them to eager collectors and dealers, thus acquiring great wealth. Vollard's interest in publishing dated from the beginning of his career. His Albums des peintres-graveurs (1896–99) and Parallèlement (1900) included prints by most of the major French masters working at that time. Thereafter he concentrated on the production of fine editions illustrated with original prints by Picasso, Dufy, Redon, Rouault, and others, works that are now highly prized by collectors and museums. Vollard wrote anecdotal biographies of his friends Cézanne, Renoir, and Degas, as well as the autobiographical Recollections of a Picture Dealer (tr. 1936).
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