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Lot Essay
Regattas and seascapes were among Dufy's favorite subjects; the joyful and dynamic atmosphere afforded Dufy the opportunity to experiment with movement and color. He produced numerous depictions of boats racing across the tumbling waves as their sails swished about in the wind or of boats sailing into the harbors at Le Havre, his hometown, and Deauville.
In Voiliers dans le port de Deauville Dufy vividly depicts the joie de vivre of this resort town through his signature vocabulary: brilliant flags, strong use of Prussian blue and flat areas of color. Although Dufy was interested in depicting spontaneous movement through his rapid brushwork, he was more absorbed in experimenting with his theory of couleur-lumière. Dufy wrote, "the colour captures the light that forms and animates the group as a whole. Every object or group of objects is placed within its own area of light and shade, receiving its share of reflections and being subjected to the arrangement decided by the artist" (quoted in D. Perez-Tibi, Dufy, London, 1989, p. 150).
In Voiliers dans le port de Deauville Dufy vividly depicts the joie de vivre of this resort town through his signature vocabulary: brilliant flags, strong use of Prussian blue and flat areas of color. Although Dufy was interested in depicting spontaneous movement through his rapid brushwork, he was more absorbed in experimenting with his theory of couleur-lumière. Dufy wrote, "the colour captures the light that forms and animates the group as a whole. Every object or group of objects is placed within its own area of light and shade, receiving its share of reflections and being subjected to the arrangement decided by the artist" (quoted in D. Perez-Tibi, Dufy, London, 1989, p. 150).