A Cubist depiction of soldiers marching, by French artist Jacques Villon. The painting uses geometric forms and a muted palette to convey movement and the energy of a military procession.

Jacques Villon, born Gaston Émile Duchamp, was a French Cubist and abstract painter and printmaker. He was the brother of artists Marcel Duchamp and Suzanne Duchamp-Crotti. Villon developed his own style of Cubism, one that combined geometric forms with a lighter palette. His work often explored themes of movement and modernity. He was associated with the Section d'Or group of Cubist artists. 'Soldats en marche' presents a group of soldiers in motion, rendered through a Cubist lens. The figures are fragmented into geometric shapes, with overlapping planes suggesting movement and the dynamism of a marching troop. The colour palette is restrained, featuring muted tones of beige, grey, and blue, which adds to the sense of distance and abstraction. The composition is complex, with lines and shapes intersecting to create a sense of depth and spatial ambiguity. The overall effect is one of controlled chaos, capturing the energy of a military procession while simultaneously deconstructing it into its constituent parts.