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Lot Essay
Fanny Guillon-Laffaille will include this work in the forthcoming supplement to her Raoul Dufy catalogue raisonné.
Dufy's fascination with horse racing was initially inspired by his collaboration with the fashion designer Paul Poiret, who in 1909 commissioned the artist to create the stationary for his fashion house, and the textile patterns used in its fabrics and garments. Poiret's signature dresses were sported by the ladies attending the races in Paris, Nice, Deauville, and, of course, the even more fashionable English race courses at Epsom and Ascot. Poiret urged Dufy to study the silhouettes, dress, and interactions of the sociable crowd of spectators mingling on the track before the race.
Dufy was immediately drawn to the exhilarating atmosphere surrounding the race itself and began to experiment with the subject of horse races as early as 1913. His first depiction of the paddocks were very stylized watercolors, focusing on the audience of élégantes, dandies and jockeys attending the races at Deauville. In the 1920s, his attention to the public's attire grew stronger, and he dedicated a series of gouaches to Poiret's models (Les mannequins de Poiret), whom he captured in still, frieze-like compositions, influenced by 1920s fashion advertising. With his discovery of Epsom and Ascot in the 1930s, Dufy's compositions became more ambitious—he started depicting the whole course, as seen from a bird's eye-view.
The present work was painted during one of Dufy's two trips to London. Although not the primary purpose of his visits, he was able to attend the races at Ascot, Epsom and Goodwood, as well as regattas at Cowes and Henley. Royal Ascot is an animated and vivid depiction of a quintessentially English summer tradition that perfectly captures the atmosphere of the event, and the emphasis on the social scene as much as on the races themselves.
Dufy's fascination with horse racing was initially inspired by his collaboration with the fashion designer Paul Poiret, who in 1909 commissioned the artist to create the stationary for his fashion house, and the textile patterns used in its fabrics and garments. Poiret's signature dresses were sported by the ladies attending the races in Paris, Nice, Deauville, and, of course, the even more fashionable English race courses at Epsom and Ascot. Poiret urged Dufy to study the silhouettes, dress, and interactions of the sociable crowd of spectators mingling on the track before the race.
Dufy was immediately drawn to the exhilarating atmosphere surrounding the race itself and began to experiment with the subject of horse races as early as 1913. His first depiction of the paddocks were very stylized watercolors, focusing on the audience of élégantes, dandies and jockeys attending the races at Deauville. In the 1920s, his attention to the public's attire grew stronger, and he dedicated a series of gouaches to Poiret's models (Les mannequins de Poiret), whom he captured in still, frieze-like compositions, influenced by 1920s fashion advertising. With his discovery of Epsom and Ascot in the 1930s, Dufy's compositions became more ambitious—he started depicting the whole course, as seen from a bird's eye-view.
The present work was painted during one of Dufy's two trips to London. Although not the primary purpose of his visits, he was able to attend the races at Ascot, Epsom and Goodwood, as well as regattas at Cowes and Henley. Royal Ascot is an animated and vivid depiction of a quintessentially English summer tradition that perfectly captures the atmosphere of the event, and the emphasis on the social scene as much as on the races themselves.