Le port du Havre 1905-1906 by Raoul Dufy

Le port du Havre 1905-1906 - Raoul Dufy - Canvas Wall Art

About This Piece

Le port du Havre 1905-1906 - Raoul Dufy - Canvas Wall Art is part of our hand painted oil painting collection from the Raoul Dufy Paintings selection. Each canvas is worked by a trained artist, then inspected before dispatch — a practical route to owning fauvist wall decor at a fraction of gallery pricing.

Composition & Subject

circa 1905-1906
Oil on canvas

Towards the end of his life, Raoul Dufy wistfully recalled his early, and abiding, preoccupations: "My youth was cradled by music and the sea" (quoted in D. Perez-Tibi, Dufy, New York, 1989, p. 12). Indeed, Dufy grew up and created many of his earliest pictures by the sea, in his native city of Le Havre and its environs. The sights of the bustling port city, as well as the promenade and strand at nearby Saint-Adresse, were instrumental in the development of his celebrated paintings of 1905-1906. These pictures marked his first full-fledged achievement as a modernist, and his debut as a colorist of exceptional daring and skill.

Although aware of its limitations, until 1905 Dufy remained faithful to Impressionism. It was only after seeing Henri Matisse's Luxe, Calme et Volupté at the Salon d'Automne that the young artist was converted to the vivid, planar Fauve style. Before this picture, "Impressionist realism lost all its charm...I immediately understood the mechanics of the new painting" (ibid., p. 19).

Dufy, having visited Druet's major exhibition of Paul Signac's work in December 1904, was already familiar with the technique of divisionism. "What I wanted to do, was to carry my investigation further than those of the Impressionists. The Impressionists looked for the inter-relationships of flecks and patches of colour, and that in itself was good. Now, however, we had something more than the satisfaction of vision alone; we needed to create the world of unseen things" (the artist quoted in M. Brion, Raoul Dufy, Paintings and Watercolors, New York, 1958, p. 9). John Elderfield comments on the time Dufy, accompanied by Marquet, worked on the Channel coast during 1905 and the summer of 1905 at Trouville, Honfleur, Sainte-Adresse and Le Havre: "When Dufy looked to the ocean for his subjects his spatially floating colorism was further developed in the isolated arcs, curves and even circles he began to use. These led through the marines and landscapes of 1907 to some remarkable café scenes of 1908" (The Wild Beasts, Fauvism and its Affinities, exh. cat., The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1976, p. 78).

Collectors often choose this fine art image when searching for fine art oil painting that feels substantial rather than decorative or disposable.

How It Is Made

Oil on canvas remains the reference standard for fauvist reproductions. Our artists apply pigment by hand, blending the fine art tones directly on the surface for depth that a printed fine art oil painting simply cannot match.

Product Details

• Every fine art canvas is hand painted in oils; no mechanical or digital reproduction at any stage.
• An extra 2-inch blank border is left around all edges for easy stretching and framing.
• Studio-direct pricing and worldwide shipping on every fine art oil painting order.
• Available canvas sizes for this hand painted oil painting: 20 X 24 in, 24 X 36 in, 30 X 40 in, 36 X 48 in, 48 X 72 in.
• Custom canvas dimensions are welcome for this fine art oil painting.
• Flexible shipping through DHL, UPS, FedEx, USPS and partner networks.
• Free canvas stretching on wooden stretcher bars; custom framing available on request.
• A digital photo of your finished painting is emailed for approval before shipment.

Styling & Placement

fauvist canvas wall art is one of the easiest ways to warm a bedroom. Pair this piece with natural linen, dark wood, or brushed brass, and let the hand painted surface do the rest.

Delivery, Sizes & Guarantee

Browse our Raoul Dufy Paintings selection for related fine art canvases, or commission this fine art image in a custom size. Every order is a hand painted oil painting, never a printed poster.