RAOUL DUFY, (1877-1953)
L'atelier de l'artiste au Havre
L'atelier de l'artiste au Havre
signed and dated 'Raoul Dufy 1929' (lower left)
gouache and watercolor on paper
19 7/8 x 26 in (50.5 x 56 cm)
Executed in 1929
Provenance
Hélène Hooper Brown and Lathrop Brown Collection, California (acquired directly from the artist).
Thence by descent to the present owner.
Literature
F. Guillon-Laffaille, Raoul Dufy, Catalogue raisonné des aquarelles, gouaches et pastels, vol. II, Paris, 1982, no. 1772 (illustrated p. 259).
Raoul Dufy's L'atelier de l'artiste au Havre is an exceptional example of the artist's oeuvre. Known for his bold, enthusiastic use of color, Dufy transforms the quintessential view of the artist's studio into a veritable feast for the eyes, an extraordinary self-portrait. Not only do viewers catch a glimpse of the intimate scene within the atelier, but they are also offered busy maritime views from the lofty open window. A full and vibrantly colored composition with many points of interest, this dynamic and engaging vignette invites viewers into the artist's daily life and acts as a veritable love letter to Dufy's celebrated hometown.
At the young age of 18 in 1895, Raoul Dufy began taking evening classes at Le Havre's Ecole des Beaux-Arts. There, his adoration of Impressionist masters and techniques grew, until he moved to Paris in 1900 to continue his studies at the Ecole nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts. In the capital, his stylistic trajectory would completely shift after seeing Henri Matisse's revolutionary works such as Luxe, calme et volupté and La femme au chapeau at the notorious 1905 Salon des Indépendants. Thereafter, Fauvism became Dufy's raison d'être, with its wild, animalistic expression through fluid lines, varied subject matter, and bombastic use of color. For the next decade Dufy would feverishly seek to emulate that which he had witnessed at the famed salon.
Art historians Alvin Martin and Judi Freeman would comment on the artist's leadership in the Le Havre sect of early Fauvism: "What distinguished the work of the Fauves from Le Havre (Dufy, Friesz and Braque) from that of Matisse and company was the treatment of surface and color. Whereas the Norman artists have been steadfastly loyal to the Impressionist approach to painting... the others borrowed extensively from the far more audacious generation that succeeded the Impressionists. The Norman Fauves found irresistible the full-blown Fauve manner of painting, characterized by highly saturated color and the laying in of brilliant tones side by side, and they inevitably responded to it in their own work, produced back in their native Normandy" (A. Martin & J. Freeman, 'The Distant Cousins in Normandy: Braque, Dufy and Friesz' in The Fauve Landscape, New York, 1990, pp. 221-222).
Just as Fauvism evolved over time and other styles such as Cubism made their marks on the world of art and on the artist himself, Dufy also developed his own signature brand. After 1920, Dufy's work showcased what was dubbed a stenographic style, with its simplified characters and structures, foreshortened perspective, and quick, light application of paint. The present lot flawlessly exemplifies the maturity and individuality of Dufy's art from that time.
This vibrant and important work by Raoul Dufy has remained in the same family's private collection through four generations, first acquired by Hélène Hooper Brown, who was an avid admirer, collector, and patron of Dufy. Hélène Hooper Brown became heiress to a fortune at the age of sixteen. She later married Lathrop Brown, who also came from a wealthy, prominent family. He attended Groton and Harvard, and was close friends with Franklin Delano Roosevelt – the two were roommates in college and each other's best men at their respective weddings. Lathrop Brown was a politician and later a major land developer. The family had a 100-acre racing horse ranch on Long Island, then was based in various cities and towns over time: Washington D.C., Manhattan, Montauk, and Boston. In 1924 they purchased the retreat Saddle Rock Ranch from pioneer Christopher McWay, 1,600 acres along the Big Sur coast.
The Brown family built the sumptuous Waterfall House by the ocean and modernist Tin House further inland. After the passing of Lathrop, Hélène donated Saddle Rock Ranch to the state in 1961, dedicating it as Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park in memory of her close friend who lived in the area from 1869-1928 and was of true homesteader heritage.
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L'atelier de l'artiste au Havre
L'atelier de l'artiste au Havre
signed and dated 'Raoul Dufy 1929' (lower left)
gouache and watercolor on paper
19 7/8 x 26 in (50.5 x 56 cm)
Executed in 1929
Provenance
Hélène Hooper Brown and Lathrop Brown Collection, California (acquired directly from the artist).
Thence by descent to the present owner.
Literature
F. Guillon-Laffaille, Raoul Dufy, Catalogue raisonné des aquarelles, gouaches et pastels, vol. II, Paris, 1982, no. 1772 (illustrated p. 259).
Raoul Dufy's L'atelier de l'artiste au Havre is an exceptional example of the artist's oeuvre. Known for his bold, enthusiastic use of color, Dufy transforms the quintessential view of the artist's studio into a veritable feast for the eyes, an extraordinary self-portrait. Not only do viewers catch a glimpse of the intimate scene within the atelier, but they are also offered busy maritime views from the lofty open window. A full and vibrantly colored composition with many points of interest, this dynamic and engaging vignette invites viewers into the artist's daily life and acts as a veritable love letter to Dufy's celebrated hometown.
At the young age of 18 in 1895, Raoul Dufy began taking evening classes at Le Havre's Ecole des Beaux-Arts. There, his adoration of Impressionist masters and techniques grew, until he moved to Paris in 1900 to continue his studies at the Ecole nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts. In the capital, his stylistic trajectory would completely shift after seeing Henri Matisse's revolutionary works such as Luxe, calme et volupté and La femme au chapeau at the notorious 1905 Salon des Indépendants. Thereafter, Fauvism became Dufy's raison d'être, with its wild, animalistic expression through fluid lines, varied subject matter, and bombastic use of color. For the next decade Dufy would feverishly seek to emulate that which he had witnessed at the famed salon.
Art historians Alvin Martin and Judi Freeman would comment on the artist's leadership in the Le Havre sect of early Fauvism: "What distinguished the work of the Fauves from Le Havre (Dufy, Friesz and Braque) from that of Matisse and company was the treatment of surface and color. Whereas the Norman artists have been steadfastly loyal to the Impressionist approach to painting... the others borrowed extensively from the far more audacious generation that succeeded the Impressionists. The Norman Fauves found irresistible the full-blown Fauve manner of painting, characterized by highly saturated color and the laying in of brilliant tones side by side, and they inevitably responded to it in their own work, produced back in their native Normandy" (A. Martin & J. Freeman, 'The Distant Cousins in Normandy: Braque, Dufy and Friesz' in The Fauve Landscape, New York, 1990, pp. 221-222).
Just as Fauvism evolved over time and other styles such as Cubism made their marks on the world of art and on the artist himself, Dufy also developed his own signature brand. After 1920, Dufy's work showcased what was dubbed a stenographic style, with its simplified characters and structures, foreshortened perspective, and quick, light application of paint. The present lot flawlessly exemplifies the maturity and individuality of Dufy's art from that time.
This vibrant and important work by Raoul Dufy has remained in the same family's private collection through four generations, first acquired by Hélène Hooper Brown, who was an avid admirer, collector, and patron of Dufy. Hélène Hooper Brown became heiress to a fortune at the age of sixteen. She later married Lathrop Brown, who also came from a wealthy, prominent family. He attended Groton and Harvard, and was close friends with Franklin Delano Roosevelt – the two were roommates in college and each other's best men at their respective weddings. Lathrop Brown was a politician and later a major land developer. The family had a 100-acre racing horse ranch on Long Island, then was based in various cities and towns over time: Washington D.C., Manhattan, Montauk, and Boston. In 1924 they purchased the retreat Saddle Rock Ranch from pioneer Christopher McWay, 1,600 acres along the Big Sur coast.
The Brown family built the sumptuous Waterfall House by the ocean and modernist Tin House further inland. After the passing of Lathrop, Hélène donated Saddle Rock Ranch to the state in 1961, dedicating it as Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park in memory of her close friend who lived in the area from 1869-1928 and was of true homesteader heritage.
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