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Raoul Dufy (1877-1953) : A joyful art
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Raoul Dufy
1877 - 1953Raoul Dufy was a French painter, draftsman and printmaker who, for a time, participated in Fauvist modes of representation. His style drew inspiration from the artists Camille Pissarro and Claude Monet, though he also closely studied the work of Paul Cézanne and Henri Matisse. Characteristically, Dufy’s compositions were colourful, bold, and decorative; they frequently depicted open-air social events, leisure activities and urban landscapes.
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Influence and Inspiration
At eighteen years old, Dufy studied in Le Havre – his home town – at the École des Beaux-Arts (municipal art school), later winning a scholarship to study at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Here, he crossed paths with Othon Friesz and studied under Léon Bonnat.
By 1901, the artist had showcased works at the Exhibition of French Artists.
Although Dufy’s early work was stylistically Impressionist, after seeing Matisse’s Luxe, calme et volupté in 1905 – what he called, ‘this miracle of creative imagination in colour and line’ – he began to paint in a Fauvist style.
By 1920 however, this had evolved through Dufy’s engagement with the work of Cézanne and Pablo Picasso, whereby his compositions became flatter, almost deconstructed.
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A successful artist
By the mid-1920s, Dufy had achieved significant success also as a commercial artist and illustrator. Throughout the decade, Dufy’s work was included in books written by Guillaume Apollinaire and Stéphane Mallarmé. With an invested interest in decorative arts and with commercial success, Dufy set up a cloth-printing studio. At this time, he also produced murals for public buildings and a large number of tapestries and ceramic designs.
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What I wish to show when I paint is the way I see things with my eyes and in my heart
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A Colourful Palette
Dufy’s sustained interest in how best to convey light through colour as particularly manifest in his later series of works depicting horse races, or regattas such as in Le Royal Yacht Squadron, Cowes, Isle of Wight (1934) or Régates à Henley (1933) . In his watercolours, Dufy exemplifies his typical inclination to sketch outlines set against distinct, thin layers of brightly coloured paint. These works showcased an idiosyncratic, looser, and naïve style, where Dufy employed rapid motion which has been likened to stenographic notation.
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Raoul Dufy
Le Royal Yacht Squadron, Cowes, Isle of Wight, c.1934 Oil on canvas
54 x 65.1 cm
21 ¼ x 25 5/8 inches
Sold by the gallery
Courtesy Archives Stoppenbach & Delestre, Private Collection, France
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By following the light of the sun, one wastes his time. The light in painting is altogether something else, it is a light of repartition, of composition, a colour-light.”(Quoted in the catalogue of the exhibition “Raoul Dufy – Le Plaisir” – Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris).
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Raoul Dufy
Régates à Henley, 1933 Watercolour and gouache on paper
50.8 x 66.7cm
20 x 26 ¼ inches -
Interiors
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Interiors and Still-Lives
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Raoul Dufy
Roses Rouges, 1941 Watercolour and gouache on paper
50 x 65.5 cm
19 11/16 x 25 13/16 inches -
Raoul Dufy
Nature morte aux poivrons, 1934 Gouache and watercolour
49 x 65 cm
20 x 26 1/8 inches
Sold by the gallery, Private collection UK
Courtesy Stoppenbach & Delestre Archives, Private collection, UK -
Raoul Dufy
Compotier de poires devant la fenêtre ouverte Watercolour and gouache on paper
65.2 x 50.2 cm
25 11/16 x 19 x ¾ inches -
Artworks Available
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Raoul DufyRégates à Henley, 1933Signed, located and dated Raoul Dufy, Henley 1933 lower rightWatercolour and gouache on paper50.8 x 66.7cm
20 x 26 ¼ inches -
Raoul DufyRoses Rouges, 1941Signed lower right Raoul Dufy 1941Watercolour and gouache on paper50 x 65.5 cm
19 11/16 x 25 13/16 inches -
Raoul DufyCompotier de poires devant la fenêtre ouverteSigned lower right Raoul DufyWatercolour and gouache on paper65.2 x 50.2 cm
25 11/16 x 19 x ¾ inches
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Further Reading
Raymond Cogniat, Raoul Dufy, Flammarion, Lugano, Italie, 1967
Raoul Dufy, Le Peintre, La Décoration, La Mode, Exhibition Catalogue, French Academy in Rome, 1996
Raoul Dufy, Le Plaisir, Exhibition Catalogue, Modern Art Museum Paris, 2008
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Artists