Raoul Dufy

b. 1877 – 1953

Born in 1877 in Le Havre, France, where he studied art at night and worked as an errand boy during the day. Upon obtaining a small scholarship in 1900, he went to Paris to study with the French artist, Leon Bonnat. About five years later, he met Matisse and other Fauve painters, whose color delighted and inspired him, as seen through his experimentation with Fauvism and attempts at Cubism. Between 1905 and 1920, he earned his living by working on a museum staff designing fabrics, as well as doing some book illustration. Painting at Honfleur toward the end of WW I, Dufy observed that the line moved more rapidly than color, yet the human eye received the sensation of color more easily than that of movement, thus holding a longer mental image. The painter's perception led to his development of calligraphic, short, and curved lines often seen throughout his works. It also led to his application of color in "diffusions" that were not strictly confined to outlines, but rather were a part of a lively, moving world held together in tight compositions in which both color and line complemented each other.

His personal symbolism, sensitive touch, and feeling for color created a world of fashionable pleasure from which he made a natural transition to textile design, ceramic decoration, and decorative painting. By 1925, his reputation was solidly established and he was commissioned to paint murals for many French public buildings. However, he began to suffer from multiple-arthritis in 1937, and moved to southwestern France for his health. When the disease progressed to the point that he could no longer paint, he came to the US in 1947 for treatment. Following treatment and a trip to Arizona, Dufy, although not cured, was well enough to return to France and to continue painting until his death in 1953.