(Le Havre 1888–1964 Boussay)
Bouquet of flowers with anemones and tulips, circa 1942/4, signed Jean Dufy, watercolour, gouache on paper, laid down on canvas, 56 x 42 cm, framed, (PS)

Literature:
Jaques Bailly, Catalogue raisonné de l’Oeuvre Jean Dufy, vol. II, p.322, no. J 1407

Provenance:
Hammer Galleries, New York

The still life with its magnificent colours by the late Impressionist, Jean Dufy, the younger brother of Raoul Dufy, is dominated by the bouquet of flowers which presides over the entire pictorial space. After the First World War, Dufy worked exclusively as a painter of landscapes, animals and flowers, as well as being active for many decades as a textile designer. He also worked for porcelain factories, including the manfactory in Limoges. This still life is a particularly lovely example of Jean Dufy’s working practice. His cheerful, glowing palette with its powerful blue tones, the radiant red, green and yellow functions like a source of light internal to the image. Using a relatively, broad brushstroke, the artist interlinks the colours with one another, and boundaries are blurred. Dufy was influenced by the art of the porcelain painter, and he emphasises individual flowers, by making the pictorial ground an integral part of the work.