Raoul Dufy
1877 - 1953Nu sur fond jaune (La Javannaise), 1930
Signed and dated lower left "Raoul Dufy, 1930"
Oil on canvas
82 x 66 cm
With only a few figures and colours, 'Nu sur fond jaune' represents how Dufy contributed to the art of painting through his alternative way of transfiguring the world into images...
With only a few figures and colours, "Nu sur fond jaune" represents how Dufy contributed to the art of painting through his alternative way of transfiguring the world into images reflecting a transcendent realism in tonal colours and percussive strokes of the brush.
This female figure is like a sketch, an idea, a blank page and is alone. Dufy engages painting with drawing, thus "Nu sur fond jaune" looks like a colored motif. What comes out is the joy the eyes find in following lines of the human body that are visible only when the body is naked. The model is posing in front of a plain background as done in fashion photographs. Her pose as constructed by the position of her hands and feet is of someone checking the fit of a dress in the mirror. All the attention is focused on the center of the body. The model's nudity suggests that Dufy used his imagination to take off the clothes in the course of painting. This produces a playfully nude effect.
"My eyes are made to erase all that is ugly" says Dufy, suggesting that for him the human body is more beautiful than any outfit. The rough and alternative harmony in the nudity of "Nu sur fond jaune" is created by the free treatment of the human form which results in a decorative effect.
© Cigdem Mirol
This female figure is like a sketch, an idea, a blank page and is alone. Dufy engages painting with drawing, thus "Nu sur fond jaune" looks like a colored motif. What comes out is the joy the eyes find in following lines of the human body that are visible only when the body is naked. The model is posing in front of a plain background as done in fashion photographs. Her pose as constructed by the position of her hands and feet is of someone checking the fit of a dress in the mirror. All the attention is focused on the center of the body. The model's nudity suggests that Dufy used his imagination to take off the clothes in the course of painting. This produces a playfully nude effect.
"My eyes are made to erase all that is ugly" says Dufy, suggesting that for him the human body is more beautiful than any outfit. The rough and alternative harmony in the nudity of "Nu sur fond jaune" is created by the free treatment of the human form which results in a decorative effect.
© Cigdem Mirol
Provenance
Mr and Mrs Patrick B. McGinnisSotheby's Parke Bernet, New York, Sale 2283, May 13th 1964, Lot 59
Morton Globus
Exhibitions
Brussels, Collection "H. B.", 1943Lyon, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Exposition Raoul Dufy
Nice, Exposition Raoul Dufy, 1953
Paris, Musée d'Art moderne, Exposition Raoul Dufy, 1953
Knokke-le-Zoute, Casino communal, Exposition, 1954, n°26
Eindhoven, Van Abbe Museum, Exposition, 1955, n°42
Honfleur, Exposition Hommage à Raoul Dufy, 1958
Genève, Musée de l'Athénée, Exposition Raoul Dufy, 1962
Paris, Galerie Pont-Royal Hotel, Exposition Hommage à Raoul Dufy, 1963
New York, Parke-Bernet Galleries Inc., Exhibition and sale, 1964, ill. p. 31, plate #59
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