Raoul Dufy

Paris, Galerie Max Kaganovitch, Œuvres récentes de Raoul Dufy, 1936, no. 11
London, The Lefevre Gallery (Alex Reid & Lefevre), Raoul Dufy, 1936, no. 19
Glasgow, French Art of the 19th and 20th Centuries, 1937, no. 22
Montreal, Paintings by French Masters of 19th and 20th Centuries,1937, no. 18
London, The Lefevre Gallery (Alex Reid & Lefevre), L'Entente cordiale, 1939, no. 14

Marcelle Berr de Turique, Raoul Dufy, Paris, 1930, p. 174
L'Atlantique, May 1931
Maurice Laffaille, Raoul Dufy, Catalogue raisonné de l'œuvre peint, Geneva, 1973, vol. II, p. 357, no. 874, illustrated

This is one of Raoul Dufy’s most cleanly composed and painted scenes of a regatta, depicting boats returning to port. Born in Le Havre, Dufy held a fascination with the sea, believing that water provided a quality of light, a flickering airy palpitation, bathing all the painter saw. Inspired by the fanfare surrounding the lively spectacles of the regattas and the constantly transient environment of the sea, Dufy depicted this subject as early as 1907-08. He saw the sea as a backdrop for human activities and he made use of the freedom and dynamism of his composition with strong pure colours to express the smells and sounds associated with the seaside, and with the excitement surrounding the races.

Like all artists of his generation, Dufy was confronted with the fundamental problem of a work of art: how to reconcile the illusion of representation, and the reality of it perceived by the artist himself. The answer lay, for Dufy, in the exploration of colour and light. La Rentrée des régattes is unusual for it is compositionally more spacious than many of his other port, regatta and boat scenes. Devoid of numerous masts, flags and banners, the painting reflects the artist’s focus on a heightened intensity of light and vibrant colours. The balance of Dufy’s composition comes from the distribution of all the points of light in the centre of each element of the painting. He replaces detail for a more general impression of the elation and celebration of the race, freeing colour from the constraints of imitation and representation. His wave ‘signs’ on the sea set up optical vibrations, which combine with the overall palette to evoke a diversity of light. Through his spontaneity and inventiveness the real mingles with the imaginary and Dufy’s references to reality are both charming and witty.

Influenced by Matisse’s attempt to get nearer to the truth of light, and by Cézanne, who brought line back into painting, Dufy discovered ways of expressing his understanding of forms in space with line holding the melody of the composition. A delightful example of Dufy’s mature work, La Rentrée des régattes presents a startling balance of fresh radiant colours intersected by lines of speed and precision, both aspects imbuing the painting with the joie de vivre inherent in Dufy’s nature and his paintings.