Dufy, Raoul 1877-1953
French artist and designer

Born in Le Havre, he was much influenced by the brightness and colour of Fauvism, which he did much to popularize. Later he abandoned it, but retained his singing blues and reds. From 1907 he worked in woodcut and engraved many book illustrations, including Guillaume Apollinaire's Bestiary (1911), and produced woodcuts for making printed silk fabrics for dress designers. He also made pottery and tapestries, but in 1919 he returned to painting on the Riviera, where he produced a notable series of seascapes, bathers, sailing regattas and racecourse scenes.