Closely tied to Pablo Picasso and the Vallauris circle, he captured the artist’s studio not as a static space, but as a site of creation, performance, and myth-making.
André Villers developed a singular photographic practice at the intersection of documentary and artistic collaboration. Closely tied to Pablo Picasso and the Vallauris circle, he captured the artist’s studio not as a static space, but as a site of creation, performance, and myth-making. His images remain essential for understanding the visual construction of the modern artist's persona.
In 1984, he published Photobiographie, a text tracing his personal career, his artistic approach and his relationship with Picasso, in a special issue of Cahiers du Sud dedicated to him. His work was hailed by the critics and earned him numerous awards, including the prestigious title Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres in 2006.
Villers' work is now housed in several major museums, including the Musée Nicéphore-Niépce in Chalon-sur-Saône and the Musée de la Photographie in Charleroi, Belgium. In 1992 and 1993, he exhibited at the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Rennes. The Musée de la Photographie Charles Nègre in Nice hosted a retrospective in his honor in 2000. In 1986, a museum dedicated to his work was opened in Mougins, in the Alpes-Maritimes.