Raoul Dufy

Painter, draftsman, textile artist, and printmaker Raoul Dufy is remembered for his colorful, playful paintings of landscapes, interiors, and scenes of leisure—at the regatta, opera, and races—along the French Riviera. Though he experimented with other styles, he was a devoted follower of Fauvism. Dufy initially looked to the Impressionists for inspiration but was forever changed by his exposure to the vivid canvases of Paul Cézanne, André Derain, and Henri Matisse. He worked with watercolor, charcoal, oil, and acrylic, imbuing his scenes with liveliness as he painted his figures in rapid strokes atop thin washes of color. Dufy’s work was well received during his lifetime, and in 1952, he won the International Grand Prize for Painting at the Venice Biennale. Today his work belongs in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Tate, and the Musée d’Orsay, among others, and a number of his paintings have sold for more than $1 million at auction.