Raoul Dufy

Christopher Farr Cloth has selected eleven textile designs from the archive of the renowned French artist Raoul Dufy who was active from 1905 until his death in 1953. The collection includes a range of bold floral designs and small geometric patterns in bright, fresh colours.

Dufy was known for his oil and watercolours, decorated ceramics, illustrated books, and a giant painted mural of 'Electricity' for the 1937 Paris International Exhibition. Born at Le Havre in Normandy, he was awarded a scholarship in 1900 and went to Paris, where he studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. Influenced by the impressionist movement and the Fauve style of Matisse and began to work in richer vivacious colours. A contemporary of Picasso & Braque's, Raoul Dufy set up 1911 a small factory to design and print fabrics for the couturier Poiret and the textile company Bianchini-Férier in Lyon.