Raoul Dufy

Artist: Dufy, Raoul

Raoul Dufy
Raoul Dufy

Movement(s): Cubism, Fauvism, Impressionism, Modernism

Raoul Dufy (1877 – 1953) was a French Fauvist painter, brother of Jean Dufy. He developed a colorful, decorative style that became fashionable for designs of ceramics and textiles, 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, a designer of furniture, and a planner of public spaces.

Raoul Dufy was born into a large family at Le Havre, in Normandy. He left school at the age of fourteen to work in a coffee-importing company. In 1895, when he was 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 L’Huillier, who had been, forty years earlier, a student of the French portrait-painter, Ingres. There, Dufy met Raimond Lecourt and Othon Friesz with whom he later shared a studio in Montmartre and to whom he remained a lifelong friend (he also met the de Saint-Delis brothers there, Henri de Saint-Delis and Rene de Saint-Delis). During this period, Dufy painted mostly 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 concentrated on improving his drawing skills. The impressionist landscape painters, such as Claude Monet and Camille Pissarro, influenced Dufy profoundly. His first exhibition (at the Exhibition of French Artists) took place in 1901.

Introduced to Berthe Weill in 1902, Dufy showed his work in her gallery. Then he exhibited again in 1903 at the Salon des Indépendants. A boost to his confidence: the painter, 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 Eugene Boudin and Claude Monet. In 1904, with his friend, Albert Marquet, he worked in Fecamp on the English Channel (La Manche).

By 1950, his hands were struck with rheumatoid arthritis and his ability to paint diminished, as he had to fasten the brush to his hand. 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.

Dufy died at Forcalquier, France, on 23 March 1953, of intestinal bleeding, which was a likely result of his continuous treatment. He was buried near Matisse in the Cimiez Monastery Cemetery in Cimiez, a suburb of the city of Nice.

Click here to read Raoul Dufy’s full bio on Wikipedia.

Raoul Dufy painted in several places in France (but notably in Normandy), the list is shown below (a link “” to the works for each city will appear below when published):

Related Posts

  • 10000
    Le Havre - The Artists - Dufy, Raoul - Part 1Raoul Dufy, born in Le Havre where he painted with his younger brother Jean Dufy. He created an impressive amount of paintings dealing with life in Le Havre. Here are but a few of them.
  • 10000
    Le Havre - The Artists - Dufy, Raoul - Part 2Part 2 of Raoul Dufy, born in Le Havre where he painted with his younger brother Jean Dufy. He created an impressive amount of paintings dealing with life in Le Havre. Here are the paintings that deal with the Le Havre surroundings; Sainte-Adresse and Harfleur.
  • 10000
    Caudebec-en-Caux – The Artists – Dufy, RaoulRaoul Dufy (1877 - 1953) was a French painter in the Fauvism, Impressionism, Modernism and Cubism movements. He was born in Le Havre where he studied arts in the local school. He (and his younger brother Jean Dufy) both painted a lot in Normandy. He went to school in Le…
  • 99
    Artist: Dufy, JeanJean Dufy, a French painter, was born in Le Havre and painted in the Fauvism, Impressionism, Modernism, and Cubism styles/movements. His older and more famous brother, Raoul Dufy, was also an artist and became Jean's mentor. Jean painted mostly in the Paris region, but did manage quite a few in…
  • 93
    Le Havre - The Artists - Dufy, JeanJean Dufy, a French painter, was born in Le Havre and painted in the Fauvism, Impressionism, Modernism, and Cubism styles/movements. His older brother, Raoul Dufy, was also an artist and became Jean's mentor. He painted mostly in the Paris region, but did manage quite a few in Le Havre. Here…
Scroll to Top