Vence

'In the Vence and Saint-Jeannet landscapes, in which architecture yields completely to natural forms, we discern an admirable process of simplification taking place. Dufy painted in all tones with equal ease and pleasure, he loved all colours alike. But deeming their harmony to depend largely on the subject, he saw no point in departing from the dominant features of nature' (J. Lassaigne, Dufy: Biographical and Critical Studies, New York, 1954, p. 38-40).
The town of Vence is a recurrent subject of Raoul Dufy’s studies: from the early ‘Cézanne experiments’ to the later, more accomplished, series of landscapes, of which the present lot is a great example, the artist’s attraction to the architecture and medieval fortifications of this southern French town, as well as the olive trees surrounding it, becomes a constant source of inspiration.
In Vence the landscape is seen from below; the city thus appears as one feature of a vast scene, whose simplified pictorial composition focuses on the essential visual elements, and where the sky is almost absent. Particularly inspired by his woodcutting practice, Dufy here also separates the colour from the outline of the shapes; the forms thus attain a sense of autonomy and become even more expressive. Moreover, he adapts to the intense bright light of the South of France, redistributing it into patches of colour.
For Dufy, 'Light is the soul of colour [...], without light, colour is lifeless.' (Raoul Dufy, quoted in Fondation Pierre Gianadda, ed., Raoul Dufy, Séries et séries noires, 1997, p. 38).