Lot 13
  • 13

Raoul Dufy

Estimate
800,000 - 1,200,000 USD
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Description

  • Raoul Dufy
  • Marine
  • Signed Raoul Dufy and dated 07 (lower left)
  • Oil on canvas
  • 21 1/4 by 25 1/2 in.
  • 54 by 65 cm

Provenance

Sidney Janis Gallery, New York

Acquired from the above in 1951

Exhibited

Chicago, Arts Club of Chicago, Les Fauves, 1956

Literature

Raymond Cogniat, Raoul Dufy, Paris, 1950, illustrated p. 18

Maurice Laffaille, Raoul Dufy, Catalogue raisonné de l’oeuvre peint, vol. I, Geneva, 1972, no. 164, illustrated p. 145

 

Condition

Very good condition. Original canvas. Under UV light, scattered hairline retouching mainly to the center and lower left of the composition and to the extreme framing edges. The surface is stable and the colors are fresh.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Catalogue Note

Painted in 1907, Marine is a product of Raoul Dufy’s most important and ground-breaking period when he pioneered the Fauvist idiom. It was the impact of the 1905 Salon des Indépendents, when Dufy saw Henri Matisse's Luxe, calme et volupté, that resulted in a new energy and vibrancy that helped form his trademark aesthetic. Dufy recalled the significance of this experience in terms of his subsequent artistic development: "At the sight of this picture I understood all the new reasons for painting, and Impressionist realism lost its charm for me as I contemplated the miracle of the imagination introduced into design and colour. I immediately understood the new pictorial mechanics" (quoted in Sarah Whitfield, Fauvism, London, 1996, p. 58).

The scene of a busy port, depicted here with such vibrancy, is a familiar one but the disorientating elevated viewpoint and various compositional framing devices give the work a distinctly modern aesthetic. The upward thrust of the masts and the swirling clouds, lend the work an undeniably dynamic sensibility, which is only heightened by the zesty turquoises and pinks that dominate the palette. Whitfield argues that it was during this period that Dufy realized the artistic potential of atypical compositions: "His recognition of the potential dynamism of the spaces between objects came, so he said, from his understanding that in Cézanne’s still lifes, the spaces between the apples were as beautiful and important as the apples themselves" (ibid., p. 131). This theory is effectively embodied within the present work, in which an astonishing sensation of movement and energy is conveyed by the expanse of water between the moored sailboats. Marine, with its bold palette, is an extraordinary tribute to the excitement and energy of Dufy's Fauve period.