Raoul Dufy

French (1877-1953)

Born in Le Havre, Normandy in 1877, Raoul Dufy studied at the École  des Beaux-Arts in Paris where he joined the studio of French painter Léon Bonnat. He later studied with Othon Friesz and Charles Lhuillier. Initially influenced by the Impressionists, a painting by Henri Matisse inspired his interest in Fauvism and his works became richer in color. By the 1920s, Dufy settled on what would become his hallmark stenographic style, combining spontaneous outlines with broad areas of vivid color.

Dufy’s first solo exhibition took place at the Galerie Berthe Weill in Paris. He exhibited at the Paris World exhibition in 1937, at the Salon des Tuileries in the 1940s and 1950s and, in 1952, received the main painting prize at the Biennale in Venice. In addition to his paintings and drawings, Dufy designed fabric patterns for the fashion house Poiret and created ceramics, woodblock prints and designs for tapestries. He also acquired a reputation as an illustrator and commercial artist and painted a number of murals for public buildings.

Dufy’s works are held in the permanent collections of the Hermitage, St. Petersburg; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.; Royal Collection, London; Art Institute of Chicago; Accademica Carrara, Bergamo; Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco; Kunstmuseum Basel, Switzerland; Museum of Provencal Art & History, Grasse; Tate Gallery, London; Musee Royal des Beaux-Arts, Cophenhagen; Museum de Fundatie, Netherlands; Musée  des Beaux-Arts, Le Havre; Museum of Modern Art, New York and the Musée National d’Art Moderne in Paris, among others.