Happy Birthday, Raoul Dufy! Born in Le Havre, France, in 1877, Dufy was a painter and print maker most commonly associated with the Fauvist movement. Fauvism literally translates to "wild beast" as artists painted with broad, bold brushstrokes and bright colors producing an "unkempt" style. Dufy studied at the Municipal School of Beaux-Arts in 1891, and he furthered his studies at the studio of Léon Bonnat at the Academy of Fine Arts in Paris. In 1905, Duty first encountered Fauvism at the Salon des Indépendants, and his interests progressed to woodcuts, decorative art, cloth-printing, lithographs, and etchings. However, he is best known for depicting upper-middle class leisure scenes of horse races and regattas. In the 1920s, Dufy traveled throughout France producing a series of watercolors featuring Nice and Bois de Boulogne, as well as, horse races such as Races at Ascot and Derby at Epsom. These watercolors are compositions that convey light through color. They exemplify Dufy's signature style of sketchy outlines set against thin layers of brightly colored paint. Toward the end of his career, his compositions became more monochromatic such as the Red Violin (1948). In 1953, Raoul Dufy died in Forcalquier, France.
