Raoul Dufy was born on the 3rd of June, 1877 in the French harbor town of Le Havre. Born in a family with 9 children, Dufy had to quit school at the age of 14 to work as a bookkeeper at a coffee-importing company. In 1895 he started taking art classes at night school at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Le Havre, his teacher was Charles Lhullier. 

The early work of Dufy is strongly impressionistic, however under the influence of Matisse, his work in the years 1905 to 1909 showed a strong Fauvistic influence. This however changed quickly after he had been in exposed to Paul Cezanne. After 1920, Dufy particularly developed his own personal style for which he became so renowned.

This style defines itself by an almost stenographic and colorful style. His favorite subjects to paint were: regattas, casino's, racetracks and orchestra's. Dufy was also successful as an illustrator and designer. Raoul Dufy died on the 23rd of March, 1953 and was buried at the same cemetery as Matisse, at the convent of Chimez in Nice. 

N. d'Huart and B. Fornari, Musée communal d'Ixelles, Brussel 1994, p. 60-61;
H. Bavelaar, Kroniek van kunst en kultuur, Leiden 1998.

Paintings and Drawings by Raoul Dufy, London (Tate Britain), 9 Jan. - 7 Feb. 1954

Work by Raoul Dufy is represented in the collections of numerous important museums, including the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York, the Royal Collection and Courtauld Institute in London, Musée d'Orsay in Paris and the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg.