Raoul Dufy
Raoul Dufy was born on the 3rd of June, 1877, to a family that later had 8 siblings in Le Havre. He showed an uncanny love and talent for art at quite a very early age. When he turned 14, he had to interrupt his studies to work in a coffee importing firm to raise some money to meet his needs. This did not entirely affect his studies because he started attending courses at night in the School of fine arts.
A few years later, he served in the military before leaving for Paris in 1900. In Paris, he won a scholarship and was fortunate to study under Leon Bonnat at Ecole des Beaux art. He sooner than later realized that he disliked academic painting and found himself gravitating towards the works of impressionist painters like Van Gogh and Gauguin. He indulged in painting in impressionist style till his attention was drawn to Fauves in 1904. He explored cubism for a while but eventually returned to the more carefree Fauvist approach and dwelled on it. Majority of his later works were presented in such manner.
In 1910, Dufy accepted the offer of Paul Poiret and created fabric designs for him. He created several Poiret dresses that made him incredibly successful and famous. In 1912, he worked for a textile company and created a lot of colorful and decorative designs that were very much on demand as well. His fame continued to grow and he flourished.
He never gave up on his true love, painting, and in the 1920’s he rededicated himself to painting. He was known for his unique painting style that was characterized by bright colors that were spread in a thin manner over a white background, and the objects of the painting were delineated sketchily using sensuous undulating lines.
Duffy enjoyed and spent a lot of time on the French Riveria. He was inspired by the environment and created paintings of Deauville, Nice and of the Bois de Boulogne. There were some of his best and very reputable works.
Duffy had a reputation as a print man, a draftsman, a book illustrator, a furniture designer, a scenic designer and a designer of public spaces.
In 1950, he developed rheumatoid arthritis and slowly began to lose his ability to paint. He fought against this development in his health and sought several ways to remedy it. After undergoing a series of treatment, he died on the 25th of March, 1953 in France. He was said to have been killed during the course of one of such treatment. He was buried near Matisse in the Chimiez monastery cemetery in Nice.
