Raoul Dufy
Deux Antillaise (Deux Négresses)
c. 1930

Name: Deux Antillaise (Deux Négresses)
Brand: Raoul Dufy
Price: 2500 USD
Availability: InStock

About the Item

Deux Antillaise (Deux Négresses) Edition: Proof on Van Gelder paper Unsigned (as usual for this image) Edition: unknown Published by Ambrose Vollard, Paris (?) References: Johnson 25 Cramer Catalog 12, no. 78 Deitsch Catalog C Supplement, June 1, 1957 Condition: very good Image/Plate size: 13 3/8 x 19 3/8 inches Sheet Size: 19 7/8" X 25 inches Raoul Dufy (French: 3 June 1877 – 23 March 1953) was a French Fauvist painter. He developed a colorful, decorative style that became fashionable for ceramics and textile designs, as well as decorative schemes for public buildings. He is noted for scenes of open-air social events. He was also a draftsman, printmaker, book illustrator, scenic designer, furniture designer and a planner of public spaces. Biography Dufy was born into a large family at Le Havre, in Normandy. His younger brother, Jean Dufy, also became an artist. Dufy left school at the age of fourteen to work in a coffee-importing company. In 1895, aged 18, he started taking evening classes in art at Le Havre's École des Beaux-Arts (municipal art school). The classes were taught by Charles Lhuillier, who had been a student of the French portrait painter Ingres 40 years earlier. There Dufy met Raimond Lecourt and Othon Friesz, with whom he later shared a studio in Montmartre and maintained a lifelong friendship. During this period, Dufy primarily painted Norman landscapes in watercolors. In 1900, after a year of military service, Dufy won a scholarship to the École Nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where again he crossed paths with Othon Friesz (he was also there when Georges Braque was studying). Dufy concentrated on improving his drawing skills and was profoundly influenced by the impressionist landscape painters, such as Claude Monet and Camille Pissarro. His first exhibition, at the Exhibition of French Artists, took place in 1901. Dufy was introduced to Berthe Weill in 1902 and showed his work in her gallery. He exhibited again in 1903, at the Salon des Indépendants. An early confidence boost came when the artist Maurice Denis bought one of his paintings. Dufy continued to paint, often in the vicinity of Le Havre and, in particular, on the beach at Sainte-Adresse, made famous by Eugène Boudin and Claude Monet. In 1904, he worked in Fecamp, on the English Channel (La Manche), with his friend Albert Marquet. Later years Henri Matisse's Luxe, Calme et Volupté, which Dufy saw at the Salon des Indépendants in 1905, directed his interests towards Fauvism. Les Fauves (the wild beasts) emphasized bright color and bold contours in their work. Dufy's painting reflected this aesthetic until about 1909, when contact with the work of Paul Cézanne led him to adopt a somewhat subtler technique. However, it was not until 1920, after he had flirted briefly with yet another style, Cubism, that Dufy developed his own distinctive approach. It involved skeletal structures arranged with foreshortened perspective, and the use of thin washes of color applied quickly, in a manner that came to be known as stenographic. Dufy's cheerful oils and watercolors depict events of the time period, such as yachting scenes, sparkling views of the French Riviera, chic parties and musical events. The optimistic, fashionably decorative and illustrative nature of much of Dufy's work has meant that his output has been less highly valued critically than the works of artists who have addressed a wider range of social concerns. For the 1937 Exposition International in Paris, Dufy completed one of the largest paintings ever contemplated, a huge and immensely popular ode to electricity titled La Fée Electricité (painted in oil on plywood). Dufy also acquired a reputation as an illustrator and commercial artist. He painted murals for public buildings and also produced a significant number of tapestries and ceramic designs. His plates appear in books by Guillaume Apollinaire, Stéphane Mallarmé and André Gide. In 1909, Dufy was commissioned by Paul Poiret to design stationery for the house. After 1912, he designed textile patterns for Bianchini-Ferier, which were used for garments worn by Poiret and Charvet. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, Dufy exhibited at the annual Salon des Tuileries in Paris. By 1950, his ability to paint was diminished when his hands were impaired by rheumatoid arthritis and he had to fasten a brush to his hand to work. In April he went to Boston to undergo an experimental treatment with cortisone and corticotropin, based on the work of Philip S. Hench. It proved successful, and some of his next works were dedicated to the doctors and researchers in the United States. In 1952 he received the grand prize for painting in the 26th Venice Biennale. Courtesy of Wikipedia

Creator:

Raoul Dufy (1877-1953, French)

Creation Year:

c. 1930

Dimensions:

Height: 13.375 in (33.98 cm)Width: 19.375 in (49.22 cm)

Medium:

Etching

Movement & Style:

French School

Period:

1920-1929

Condition:

Slight staining on verso.

Gallery Location:

Fairlawn, OH

Reference Number:

Seller: FA86891stDibs: LU14011638202

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Raoul Dufy

Raoul Dufy was a renowned French Fauvist painter, famous for his colorful, decorative designs. He was born in Le Havre, Normandy, in 1877. Dufy had a simple upbringing, leaving school at 14 to work at a Brazilian coffee-importing company. His formal artistic education began when he was eighteen at Le Havre's École des Beaux-Arts, where he took evening art classes. He continued to paint within the purlieu of Le Havre and was greatly inspired by the Impressionist landscape painters Claude Monet and Camille Pissarro. In 1900, after serving in the military for one year, Dufy won a scholarship to the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris.

Dufy began painting watercolors of the Norman landscapes but was soon widely celebrated for his brightly colored and bold contoured paintings – in dialogue with the Fauvist style. He remained faithful to Fauvism until Paul Cézanne’s work guided him to embrace a subtler aesthetic. This new mode of sobriety saw his work return to a lighter style, which he celebrated through rapid inscription-like drawings over vivid backgrounds of color washes.

The rise of Cubism in Paris during the first two decades of the 20th century influenced him to develop a systematic approach that was later known as stenographics. Using this he experimented with foreshortened perspective, thin washes of paint and skeletal structures. In this style, he portrayed the lavish scenes of the French Riviera, leisureliness of the period, and chic revelries. Dufy was also fascinated by other amusements such as regattas, horse races and concerts and loved to depict the excitement and commotion of the crowds.

Dufy had his first exhibition in 1901 at the Salon des Artistes Français, following a string of exhibitions over the following years. In 1906 he took part in the Cercle de l’Art Moderne Exhibition in Le Havre with artists Georges Braque, Henri Matisse and Henri Charles Manguin. Dufy was given his first retrospective in 1921 at the Galerie Bernheim-Jeune and in 1932 his first painting was accepted into a national collection. He celebrated two large commissions for the 1937 Exposition Internationals des Artes et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne. The most notable of the two was the adornment for the Pavilion of Light and Electricity. He was commissioned with the task to illustrate the history of electricity from the classical era to its current position in 20th century developments. He painted La Fée électricité, a huge fresco which was donated to the Musée d’Art Moderne in 1964. In 1952 he represented France at the 26th Venice Biennale, where he won the Gran Premio. A year later he died aged 75, of polyarthritis, an illness he had been suffering from since 1937.

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(Biography provided by Stern Pissarro Gallery)