Dufy Raoul

Born into a poor large family. Despite the abilities shown at school, as a child he was forced to earn a living. In 1891, he attended evening painting courses at the Art Academy in Le Havre. Here, in 1892, R. Dufy met Georges Braque and Otho Friesz. Having received a scholarship from the city of Le Havre, the artist went to Paris, where he entered the atelier of Leon Bonn at the School of Fine Arts. After the creative phase, when R. Dufy painted in an impressionist manner, which lasted until 1905, the artist devoted himself to Fauvism, which he became acquainted with at the Autumn Salon, where paintings by Henri Matisse were presented. During this period, the artist travels a lot around France and paints. In 1906, the first personal exhibition of R. Dufy opened at the Berthe Weil Gallery. The Fauvist period in the work of R. Dufy is followed by the Cubist period. The low sales of R. Dufy's paintings forced him to take up woodcut printing, illustrating literature and developing patterns for fabrics. During this period, R. Dufy returned to his original style, the colors of his paintings became lighter and brighter. In 1919-1923 he lived in Vence and traveled to Italy, where he painted a lot. In 1923, the second personal exhibition of R. Dufy was held at the Centaurus Gallery in Brussels, which ended with great success for the master. Subsequently, the artist practices the separation of color and design in his works, and in watercolor he finds the medium that most expresses these requirements. For the Paris International Exhibition in 1937, he created a huge wall painting with an area of ​​600 sq.m. In the late paintings of R. Dufy, as a rule, only one color is the main one.