Jacques Yankel was born under a lucky star, at La Ruche in Paris, Passage Dantzig... a child of the ball, son of painter Michel Kikoïne.
He grew up in this children's paradise, among the greatest artists of the École de Paris: Chagall, Soutine, Krémègne, Indenbaum and others. Later, when he became a painter himself, he would never cease to use the Beehive as a model.
In 1940, Yankel and his parents fled to Toulouse, where they remained until the defeat of Nazi Germany.
At liberation, he escaped to North Africa. There he met the painter Aristide Caillaud, whom he took to Djerba for the famous pilgrimage. Yankel's real debut as a painter came in 1954, when he exhibited at Galerie Drouant-David. He won one painting prize after another, including the prestigious Prix de la Société des Amateurs d'Art, after the Prix Fénéon. During this period, he practiced abstract expressionism, perhaps influenced by Rouault, Soutine and Egon Schiele.
He took part in all the major Salons and represented France at the Sao-Paulo Biennial.
For several years, he led a group of artist friends in the Salon “Comparaisons”, which was held at the Grand Palais.
In 1968, chance (or necessity) propelled him to the École des Beaux Arts, where he had just been elected by the students of a painting workshop. He taught there for 17 years alongside César, Pingier and Olivier Debré.
He continues to exhibit worldwide, in Tokyo, New York, Tel Aviv and even Tahiti at the Musée Gauguin. It was even thanks to this new faraway escape that he landed on Easter Island, where he dreamed of ending his days.
On his return, he moved into a superb studio opposite Parc Montsouris, where aviator Mermoz had once lived. He became friends with the Galerie Yoshia, which remained loyal to him for 30 years.
Like his friends in the “Nouveau Réalisme” movement, who used detached posters to reinvent them for their own purposes, Yankel used his own drafts, texts and tears to further renew his plastic expression.
For him, painting has always been, and still is in his old age, “a dreamlike, playful therapy”.