RAOUL DUFY. Il pittore della gioia
Palazzo Cipolla, Roma October 14, 2022 - February 26, 2023
Starting 14 October 2022, the spaces at Palazzo Cipolla will be hosting the largest exhibition ever staged in Italy of one of the masters of modern art: Raoul Dufy. Subdivided into 13 thematic sections, the exhibition recounts the French painter’s entire artistic journey through multiple works embracing a variety of techniques in the various decades of the twentieth century, from the beginning until the 1950s, when Dufy, spurred by the War and by illness that forced him to stay within the confines of his studio in southern France, sought new themes. The leitmotiv for this overview lies in chromatic violence, in the magic of colour that becomes an indispensable element for communicating moods and emotions. This evolution initially saw Dufy pursuing the Impressionist tradition that germinated with Monet in his own native city of Le Havre. He was later to be found among the Fauves gathering around the figure of Matisse, who were soon to react against atmospheric painting and works dominated by visual sensations, and would end up embracing
Cézanne’s austerity by which shapes, the flat areas of bright or even violent colours, are independent of the line that barely sketches their contours. This form of painting featured waves rendered in upside-down Vs, clouds, and a world of shapes: bathers, birds, horses, and landscapes inspired by the modern and the classical alike. He showed a preference for seascapes, with a particular love for the racecourses that would bring him great success. Sensitive to the climate of his own times, he took an interest in the society of entertainment, with its races, regattas, and diversions that were elite and popular at the same time, reproduced by Dufy with liveliness and zest. Curated by Sophie Krebs, Chief curator and Nadia Chalbi, in charge of Exhibitions and collections at the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris, the exhibition is an emotional journey through the artist’s preferred themes, in which visual sensations reduced to the essence of reality, and the use of composition, light, and colour, are the emblematic elements characterizing his works. ▲
“La Fata Elettricità, il dipinto più grande del mondo, duecentocinquanta pannelli di compensato di 2x1,20 metri realizzati per l’Esposizione internazionale delle arti e delle tecniche nella vita moderna tenutasi a Parigi nel 1937. Tutta la sua storia in una mostra, ben concepita e completa. ▲