Raoul Dufy

RAOUL DUFY (Le Havre, 1877- near Forcalquier, 1953).
"Biche et oiseau", c.1911.
Gouache on paper.
Attached certificate of Fanny Guillon-Laffaille, 1999.
Signed lower right corner.
Measurements: 20 x 31 cm; 34 x 46 cm (frame).
Raoul Dufy was a fauvist and cubist painter, graphic artist and textile designer known for his decorative style, very colorful, which was very appreciated for ceramics, textiles and architectural decorations. In 1895 he began attending art classes at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Le Havre, studying the work of Eugène Boudin at the city's museum. In 1900 a scholarship allowed him a short training at the School of Fine Arts in Paris, where he met Georges Braque, and, two years later, he began to exhibit (Berthe Weill Gallery in Paris). In his career, he began with a style influenced by the impressionist landscape painters (especially Monet and Pissarro). In 1905, contemplating Henri Matisse's "Luxe, Calme et Volupté" at the Salon des Indépendants that year, he turned his work towards Fauvism, adding a vigorous stroke. Around 1909, contact with Paul Cézanne led him to a more subtle technique. In 1920, after having already done his trials with Cubism, he develops his personal approach to this current, with skeletal structures in a particular perspective, using baths of color with brushstrokes (in a way that was called "shorthand"). Thematically, his predilection for sailing ships, parties, musical events, horse racing, outdoor activities, flowers, musical instruments and nudes is clear. His work is held in important private collections and museums such as the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, the Van Abbemuseum, the McNay Art Museum, the Art Gallery of Ontario, etc.