Raoul Dufy: Paintings and Textile Designs

The formative years of Dufy’s artistic career came during the eras of Impressionism and Fauvism. Dufy’s works reflect the influence of these movements and of artists like Paul Cézanne, but also show how he cultivated his own innovative style. Around the 1920s, he devoted himself to his art while staying in Vence, a town bathed in the radiant light of southern France. During this period, his eyes were opened to light, form, and color, and he acquired his own unique style—one of bright colors and soft, airy outlines coming together in a harmonious whole. A calm sea brimming with light and energy, a concert hall radiating a feeling of rhythm and unity, a distinctive figure dressed to the nines—Dufy’s paintings cheerfully proclaim his sheer lust for life, his joie de vivre.

In 1910, the poet Guillaume Apollinaire commissioned Dufy to illustrate his poetry collection, The Bestiary, or Procession of Orpheus. The resulting woodprint illustrations are works of great sophistication, with dramatic depictions of light and dark and simple, stylish compositions. Fashion designer Paul Poiret, who was by this time already well acquainted with Dufy, admired his graphic work and commissioned Dufy to design a letterhead and other materials for his own business. He even established a textile workshop to collaborate with Dufy on clothing designs. This partnership, albeit brief, sparked Dufy’s interest in textile design, and in 1912 he signed a contract with Lyon-based Bianchini-Férier to provide designs for their fabrics.

The works in this section are divided into two parts: The Bestiary, or Procession of Orpheus and Early Woodprints, and Collaborations with Paul Poiret and Bianchini-Férier.

From 1912 to 1928, Dufy immersed himself in the world of textile design. Most significantly, he developed a particular method through his experiments in fabric, one that he also utilized in his paintings. This was an artistic style unique to Dufy, wherein color and line exist independently of each other but create harmony on the canvas or cloth.

In this section, visitors can closely examine a selection of familiar scenes from nature made into innovative designs by Dufy. Focusing on floral patterns—which hold an important place in textile design to this day—the section is divided into four parts by motif, respectively titled Roses, Variety of Flowers, Flowers and Leaves, and Insects. A wide variety of works are displayed here, from Dufy’s design drawings and paintings and the corresponding woven and printed fabrics, to paper impressions and outfits.

In addition to designs inspired by the natural world, Dufy’s textiles also feature everyday scenes of urban life in vivid color, such as images of parties and people engaged in sport—themes that are also found in Dufy’s paintings. Such scenes, brought together through vivid colors and simple compositions that nevertheless tell a story, pioneered new ground in textile design. In 1919, Charles Bianchini wrote to Dufy, “I think that we can expect a great deal from furniture fabrics painted in the modern style.” It is evident that the two men shared a common dream of reinventing the world of textile design.

This section is divided into two major themes: Modern Life and Geometric Patterns.