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Lot Essay
The subject of horse racing first appeared in Dufy's work as early as 1913, but it was not until the early 1920s, when the fashion designer Paul Poiret asked him to go to the races to study fashionable dress, that it started to become one of the most important themes of Dufy's oeuvre. At first Dufy was urged by Poiret to concentrate his depictions on Poiret's models, playing with their parasols as they flirted with the racehorse owners, but Dufy's attention was soon taken up with the exhilarating dynamism of the horses in mid-race and the colourful and vibrant display of the spectators and their often dazzling surroundings.
'Friends who accompanied Dufy on his earliest expeditions to the racecourse... all speak of the way in which he was more interested in the horses' and jockeys' colours than he was in the people, smart or otherwise. Gradually, in Dufy's racecourse scenes... everything is again given up to the crisp, jaunty inter-action between green turf, red brick buildings, white railings, multi-coloured crowds, green trees against blue sky with sprightly puffs of clouds' (B. Robertson, 'An Introduction to Raoul Dufy', exh. cat. Raoul Dufy 1877-1953, London, 1983).
Deauville was a summer community situated three hours northwest of Paris on the coast of Normandy and attracted vacationers and artists with its picturesque boardwalks, sandy beach, racecourse and casino. Courses à Deauville perfectly captures the activity, pageantry and vibrancy of an afternoon at the racecourse during the height of the social season.
'Friends who accompanied Dufy on his earliest expeditions to the racecourse... all speak of the way in which he was more interested in the horses' and jockeys' colours than he was in the people, smart or otherwise. Gradually, in Dufy's racecourse scenes... everything is again given up to the crisp, jaunty inter-action between green turf, red brick buildings, white railings, multi-coloured crowds, green trees against blue sky with sprightly puffs of clouds' (B. Robertson, 'An Introduction to Raoul Dufy', exh. cat. Raoul Dufy 1877-1953, London, 1983).
Deauville was a summer community situated three hours northwest of Paris on the coast of Normandy and attracted vacationers and artists with its picturesque boardwalks, sandy beach, racecourse and casino. Courses à Deauville perfectly captures the activity, pageantry and vibrancy of an afternoon at the racecourse during the height of the social season.