DUFY, RAOUL

born June 3, 1877, Le Havre, Fr. died March 23, 1953, Forcalquier French painter and designer noted for his brightly coloured and highly decorative scenes of luxury and pleasure. In 1900 Dufy went to Paris to attend the cole des Beaux-Arts, but the conventional art of the past did not attract him. Rather he was fascinated by the vibrant colour juxtapositions of the Impressionists and Post-impressionists, whose styles he adopted. By 1904 Dufy had abandoned the Impressionist style and had begun to work in the flat areas of bright colour typical of the Fauvist style. But in 190809, while working with the Cubist painters Georges Braque and mile-Othon Friesz, he changed his style again and temporarily adopted subdued colours and a Cubist manner of composition. He then did woodcuts as illustrations for books, and his success in this medium encouraged him to design textiles and eventually to produce ceramics and tapestries. In the early 1920s Dufy rededicated himself to painting and began producing what are now his best-known works. His distinctive style is characterized by bright, decorative colours thinly spread over a white ground, with objects sketchily delineated by sensuously undulating lines. Dufy took as his subjects scenes of recreation and spectacle, including horse races and regattas, parades, and concerts. He spent much time on the French Riviera and produced series of paintings of Nice (1927), the Bois de Boulogne (1929), and Deauville (1930). Though very popular, his lively, carefree, elegant paintings have been criticized as occasionally bordering on the superficial.