Raoul Dufy (1877-1953)

Raoul Dufy first painted Hyères in 1927, and the largest and most striking of the Hyères paintings of that year is the present lot. La Fontaine à Hyères demonstrates Dufy’s gift of beautifully capturing the essence of a location in both composition and vivid colour. The work shows two of the town’s most iconic features, its avenue of palm trees receding up the hill towards the vieille ville in the distance, and the imposing Godillot fountain in the foreground. The trees and the fountains are rendered in Dufy’s typically striking azure blues and verdant greens, and the eye is drawn beyond the fountain and trees to the red and white of L’église Saint-Paul on the horizon.