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Raoul Dufy
Raoul Dufy
Raoul Dufy

Raoul Dufy

French, 1877-1953
BiographyFrench Fauvist painter.

Raoul Dufy was born into a large family at Le Havre, in Normandy. He left school at the age of fourteen to work in a coffee-importing company. In 1895, when he was 18, he started taking evening classes in art at Le Havre's École des Beaux-Arts (municipal art school). In 1900, after a year of military service, Raoul Dufy won a scholarship to the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Raoul Dufy developed a colorful, decorative style that became fashionable for designs of ceramics and textiles, as well as decorative schemes for public buildings. He is noted for scenes of open-air social events. He was also a draftsman, printmaker, book illustrator, a theatrical set-dresser, a designer of furniture, and a planner of public spaces.
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