Raoul Dufy

(French, 1877-1953)

“France has lived a long time – eight or nine centuries – and yet art in France, too, was derivative up until the nineteenth century.”
— Raoul Dufy

Renowned French painter Raoul Dufy is best known for his Fauve-colored paintings of landscapes and views of the Mediterranean, but he also created illustrations, etchings, lithographs, ceramics, murals, and tapestry designs. His favorite color was blue, which he uses consistently and powerfully throughout his oeuvre. As he explained, “Blue is the only color which maintains its own character in all its tones…it will always stay blue…whereas yellow is blackened in its shades and fades away when lightened; red when darkened becomes brown, and diluted with white is no longer red, but another color - pink.” Dufy was born in France on June 3, 1877. He began his studies taking night classes at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 1900, until he received a scholarship to attend the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts. Here, he trained under the famous Léon Bonnat, whose style was between the academic approach and Impressionism.

In his early work, Dufy used an Impressionist style, until he was introduced to Les Fauves when he attended the 1905 Salon des Indépendants. Les Fauves were an avant-garde group of artists, working in pure color tones with revolutionary emotionally expressive and painterly brushwork. Their bold and nonnatural use of color inspired the critic Louis Vauxcelles to dub them “fauves,” which is French for “beasts”. That same year Dufy began to employ similar broad brushstrokes and bright colors. Although these would become elements of his signature style, he was briefly influenced to use restrained colors and structured compositions by a 1907 exhibition of Paul Cezanne’s work. He then did work in a Cubist-influenced style in 1908 and 1909, before returning to his Fauvist approach.

In the early 1920s, Dufy began to create what are now his most notable works. Over a white base, he thinly spreads bright colors, with objects drawn in sensuous, graceful lines. His subjects were scenes of recreation and spectacle, including regattas, parades, concerts, horse races, and interior spaces. He was often on the French Riviera and produced series of paintings of Nice, the Bois de Boulogne, and Deauville in the late 1920s. He also worked as an illustrator and printmaker, creating imaginative lithographs and etchings in the 1920s and 1930s. His work won the International Grand Prize for Painting at the 26th Venice Biennale in 1952. One year later, Dufy died on March 23, 1953, in Forcalquier, France.

Dufy was also a successful artist in other media, producing a series of woodcuts to illustrate poet Guillaume Apollinaire’s Bestiary, creating designs for a textile company, and designing ceramics and tapestries. His paintings were well received throughout his career and are in numerous collections internationally for their aesthetic allure and historical significance, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Musée D’Orsay in Paris, the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, and many others.

American Fine Art, Inc. is proud to feature the original works and limited editions of Raoul Dufy. Visit our 12,000 sq. ft. showroom in Scottsdale, Arizona or call today. Our website is offered only as a limited place to browse or refresh your memory and is not a reflection of our current inventory. To learn more about collecting, pricing, value, or any other art information, please contact one of our International Art Consultants. We look forward to giving you the one on one attention you deserve when building your fine art collection. We hope you find our website helpful and look forward to seeing you in Scottsdale soon.