Le Havre – The Artists – Dufy, Raoul – Part 1

This page forms part of a series of pages dedicated to the many artists who worked in Le Havre. A full list of all the artists with a link to their works can be found at the bottom of this page.

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.

NOTE: Despite the sheer number of paintings you see below, they are only a small sample of his works of Le Havre. Another page deals with his paintings of two of the surroundings of Le Havre; Sainte-Adresse and Harfleur. Click here to read it..

NOTE: Click on any painting below for a bigger version (no new window will open).

NOTE: A black box like this one, means that there is an explanation text about today’s situation of the painting above it.
NOTE: Click on this photo icon anywhere below a painting to see a photo of what the area looks like today.

NOTE: A blue box like this one, means there is an explanation or a note.

NOTE: The “bassin de la Barre” is no longer used for ships, instead it’s the home of a rowing club.

NOTE: Still today, you will see many yachts and other ships in Le Havre, with sails and flags.

NOTE: Obviously the 14th of July (Bastille Day) is still celebrated extensively in Le Havre (and all over France), culminating in a massive fireworks display over the beach.

NOTE: Sail races are a normal and very regular occurrence in Le Havre and neighboring Sainte-Adresse.

NOTE: The villa you see above (the red one with towers) still exists. It’s called “Villa Maritime – click here to read more about it“. You will see it again after the next one below and the one after that.

NOTE: The Saint-Vincent church still exists in Le Havre, and is the oldest church there.

NOTE: Again this is the “Villa Maritime” that still exists in Le Havre.

NOTE: The church you see here is the “Notre Dame des Flots” in the Sainte-Adresse city (suburb of Le Havre).

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):

• Grand Est
  • Langres
• Normandy
  • Bayeux (surrounding only) ⇠
    • Nonant ⇠
  • Caudebec-en-Caux ⇠
  • Deauville ⇠
  • Falaise
  • Fecamp ⇠
  • Honfleur
  • Le Havre (and surroundings) ⇠
    • Harfleur ⇠
    • Sainte-Adresse ⇠
  • Trouville-sur-Mer (and surroundings) ⇠
    • Villerville ⇠
• Occitanie
  • Perpignan
  • Vernet-les-Bains
• Pays de la Loire
  • Brissac Loire Aubance
• Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur
  • Antibes
  • Cannes
  • Golfe-Juan
  • Hyeres
  • Marseilles
  • Nice
  • Saint-Jeannet
  • Vallauris
  • Villefranche-sur-Mer

Here are the painters/artists who painted in Le Havre (a “*” indicates that the artist did not worked directly in Le Havre itself, instead worked closeby, a link “⇠” to the artist’s works will appear below when published):

• 🇫🇷 Adam, Edouard Marie ⇠
• 🇷🇺 Beggrov, Alexander ⇠
• 🇫🇷 Binet, George ⇠
• 🇺🇸 Boggs, Frank Myers ⇠
• 🇷🇺 Bogoliubo, Alexei ⇠
• 🇬🇧 Bonington, Richard Parkes ⇠
• 🇫🇷 Boudin, Eugene-Louis ⇠
• 🇫🇷 Braque, Georges ⇠
• 🇫🇷 Bruelle, Gaston ⇠
• 🇬🇧 Callow, William ⇠
• 🇬🇧 Cameron, David Young ⇠
• 🇫🇷 Ciceri, Eugene * ⇠
• 🇫🇷 Coignet, Jules ⇠
• 🇫🇷 Corot, Jean-Baptiste Camille ⇠
• 🇬🇧 Cotman, John Sell ⇠
• 🇬🇧 Cooke, Edward William ⇠
• 🇫🇷 Crepin, Louis-Philippe ⇠
• 🇫🇷 Cyr, Georges Albert ⇠
• 🇫🇷 Dauzats, Adrien * ⇠
• 🇫🇷 de Saint-Delis, Henri ⇠
• 🇫🇷 de Saint-Delis, Rene ⇠
• 🇳🇱 Dommersen, William ⇠
• 🇫🇷 Dubourg, Louis-Alexandre ⇠
• 🇫🇷 Dufy, Jean ⇠
• 🇫🇷 Dufy, Raoul ⇠
• 🇫🇷 Friesz, Othon ⇠
• 🇫🇷 Garneray, Ambroise Louis ⇠
• 🇫🇷 Gernez, Paul-Elie ⇠
• 🇫🇷 Goeneutte, Norbert ⇠
• 🇷🇺 Gritsenko, Nikolai ⇠
• 🇫🇷 Gudin, Theodore ⇠
• 🇫🇷 Guerard, Henri ⇠
• 🇫🇷 Guillaumin, Armand * ⇠
• 🇫🇷 Hervier, Louis ⇠
• 🇬🇧 Holland, James ⇠
• 🇫🇷 Huet, Paul ⇠
• 🇳🇱 Jongkind, Johan Barthold ⇠
• 🇬🇧 Kay, James ⇠
• 🇳🇱 Le Gray, Gustave ⇠
• 🇳🇱 Le Sidaner, Henri * ⇠
• 🇫🇷 Lebourg, Albert ⇠
• 🇬🇧 Lee-Hankey, William ⇠
• 🇫🇷 Lepoittevin, Eugene ⇠
• 🇫🇷 Leprince, Auguste-Xavier ⇠
• 🇫🇷 Letellier, Emile-Andre ⇠
• 🇫🇷 Loir, Luigi ⇠
• 🇫🇷 Loiseau, Gustave ⇠
• 🇫🇷 Luce, Maximilien ⇠
• 🇫🇷 Madelain, Gustave ⇠
• 🇫🇷 Marquet, Albert ⇠
• 🇫🇷 Maufra, Maxime ⇠
• 🇫🇷 Maze, Paul ⇠
• 🇫🇷 Monet, Claude ⇠
• 🇨🇦 Morrice, James Wilson ⇠
• 🇫🇷 Mozin, Charles-Louis ⇠
• 🇫🇷 Noel, Alexandre Jean ⇠
• 🇫🇷 Noel, Jules Achille ⇠
• 🇸🇪 Osslund, Helmer ⇠
• 🇫🇷 Pecrus, Charles Francois ⇠
• 🇫🇷 Petitjean, Edmond Marie ⇠
• 🇩🇰 Pissarro, Camille ⇠
• 🇫🇷 Pissarro, Lucien * ⇠
• 🇬🇧 Prout, Samuel * ⇠
• 🇫🇷 Robert, Hubert ⇠
• 🇫🇷 Roullet, Gaston ⇠
• 🇫🇷 Signac, Paul ⇠
• 🇬🇧 Stanfield, Clarkson Frederick ⇠
• 🇧🇪 Stevens, Alfred Emile Leopold ⇠
• 🇳🇱 Ten Cate, Siebe Johannes ⇠
• 🇳🇴 Thaulow, Fritz ⇠
• 🇫🇷 Thornley, Georges William ⇠
• 🇬🇧 Turner, Joseph Mallord William ⇠
• 🇨🇭 Vallotton, Felix ⇠
• 🇬🇧 Wadsworth, Edward ⇠

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