And the colour blue is still strongly featured. His drawings become even freer at this point and he works more with stronger colours and more chaotic brushstrokes. With his friend Albert Marquet, he painted the harbour, streets decorated with flags for the 14th of July, boats moored on the quay, the pier and beaches. Until 1907 Dufy experimented with Fauvism, painting in Le Havre and other areas within Normandy. I instantly understood the new pictorial mechanics.” Raoul Dufy, Le Havre Beach, 1906 Raoul Dufy, 14 July in Le Havre, 1906 Raoul Dufy, The Yacht Harbour in The Bassin du Commerce in Le Havre, 1905-6 ” In front of that picture … I understood all the new reasons to paint, and Impressionist realism lost its charm for me as I contemplated the miracle wrought by introducing the imagination into drawing and colour. Henri Matisse, Luxury, Calm and Pleasure, 1904 It was not long after this that he saw a Fauvist painting by Henri Matisse, Luxury, Calm and Pleasure, at the Salon des Independants in March 1905 – and this was a revelation for him. How, using this, could I succeed in rendering not what I see, but what it, what exists for me, my reality? … From that day forth, it was impossible for me to go back to my sterile tussles with the elements that offered themselves to my gaze.” When I came to a beach subject, I set out my equipment and started looking at my tubes of paint and my brushes. “I had done the beaches in the manner of Impressionists, and I had reached a point of saturation… On day, unable to bear it any longer, I went out with just my box of paints and a sheet of paper. It was during this phase that his work became less structured, with longer brush strokes, and a freer hand. However, you can see how Dufy’s painting are more strongly outlined, with a frequent use of black. Impressionism was still the primary artistic movement in France in the early 20th Century, so Dufy’s focus was on rendering the shifting light effects and shimmering air. Like Boudin, Monet and others, he focused on seaside imagery. “įrom Rene Barotte,with Raoul Duffy on his return to Paris, Comedia, 5 February, 1944 Dufy’s development and Influencesĭufy studied at the Ecole Nationaledes Beaux-Arts in Paris but returned frequently to Le Havre where he was able to see the extensive works of Eugene Boudin at the Le Havre Museum. Until about 20th August it is radiant then it takes on increasingly Silver tones. I was transported by the miraculous light of the estuaries, the like of which I’ve only found in Syracuse. I knew by smell whether a boat came from Texas, the Indies or the Azures, and it fired my imagination. I breathed all the perfumes that wafted from the holds. I spent all my time on the decks of ships: it is an ideal training for a painter. It was there that I worked with Lhullier, who was an excellent teacher, but it was also where as a 17-year-old employed by an import firm, I supervised dockers. “The unique setting of Le Havre is what made me the artist I am. Raoul Dufy, Le Quai De l’Ile, 1898 Raoul Dufy, Honfluer, 1898 Raoul Dufy was born in Havre in 1877 where he later trained as an artist, and the colour blue predominates in even his earlier works – not surprisingly as he painted the coast around Le Havre, but you can see that these paintings are subtle and traditional in style. I think the paintings above are easily recognised as the work of Dufy, with his simple lines and beautifully deep shades of blue. Raoul Dufy, Pink Bridge and Railway, c 1935 Raoul Dufy, still life with fish and fruit, 1920-22 Take the various tones of blue, from the darkest to the lightest and they will still be blue whereas yellow goes black in the shadows and it vanishes at its lightest dark red turns into brown and red diluted with white isn’t red, but pink – a different colour“. “ Blue is the only colour that holds onto its individuality in all its shades. If there is one thing that’s distinctive about artist Raoul Dufy (1877 – 1953) it is his use of the colour blue, and I was treated to many of his works at an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art at Le Havre in France.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |