Hometown: Paris, France
Jacques Mourlot was born in Paris in 1933 and grew up at the print shop with his father Fernand. In his time outside of his work at the studio, Jacques was a talented trumpet player and part of the house band of La Caveau de La Huchette in the late 1940s. In 1950, Jacques joined the French army and was stationed in North Africa attached to the French Foreign Legion.
After being wounded in battle and spending a year of recovery in the hospital, Jacques returned to Paris in 1954 to assist Fernand in running the print shop. In addition to working at the studio, Jacques pursues a career as a race car driver. Soon his technical prowess and achievements in printing garnered respect by artists and master printers alike as Jacques matured into Fernand’s closest assistant. His attention to detail and nuanced technique made him an invaluable asset in both the artistic and technological process of the family studio, introducing new approaches to the development of printing.
In 1966, Jacques was designated by Fernand to Pioneer the family name in New York after a tour with the Smithsonian showed the Mourlot Collection throughout the United States. After moving with his wife Liliane and son Eric, Jacques established Bank street studio where he went on to create beautiful pieces with artists such as Claes Oldenburg, Roy Lichtenstein, Ellsworth Kelly, Ben Shahn, Alex Katz, James Rosenquist, and Lee Krasner.
For six years he worked and printed in this studio as well as participated in projects for prestigious institutions including the Smithsonian, MoMa, and the Met. Upon his father Fernand’s retirement in the mid 1970s, Jacques and his family returned to Paris to take over the main studio. It was here where he continued to help finish the later works of Chagall, Miró, Buffet, and those of many other artists until his retirement in 1990.