Nu à la Balustrade Devant la Méditérranée. Nude by a Balustrade at the side of the Mediterranean. by Raoul Dufy, 1877-1953

Raoul Dufy, 1877-1953
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Nu à la Balustrade Devant la Méditérranée. Nude by a Balustrade at the side of the Mediterranean.

Original etching in black ink with a cream plate tone. c.1928. Signed in pencil. Numbered in pencil from the edition of 190 impressions. Printed at the studio of L.Fort c. 1928. Probably published by Ambroise Vollard.
Provenance: Collection H.Neuerberg with his stamp. Purchased Marcel lecomte, Paris c. 1950.

Extremely fine impression with a glowing cream plate tone. On pale cream wove J. Perrigot Arches paper. Excellent condition. Wide (? full) margins. Sheet: 17 5/8 x 22 3/4ins. Plate: 13 1/2 x 20 1/8ins (342x510mm)

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In the mid 1920's Dufy's drawing reached a peak of inspiration, with a wonderful quality of flow and curl. It was also at this time that he began to be interested in etching as a medium.
Like Matisse he became fascinated by the way that in etching the rhythm of a drawn line, similar to a fine pen stroke, was combined with a quality of sharpness, of crisp incision. By varying the strength of the bite so the line took on differing tonal qualities which created a special pattern of light on the surface of the sheet which was unique to the medium of etching. In the four or five large-scale etchings which he made in the late 1920's (see also no 14 - Nu Couché au Palmiers), the inspiration of his etched drawing can be seen at its very finest.

'Nu Devant une Balustrade' was one of the only etchings from the group of six or so large scale compositions which Dufy drew at this period which actually reached the stage of a signed, numbered and issued edition. In it the manner if which the light is focussed on the foreground figure by the use of the open surface of the paper and the limited shading, set against the rich drama of the completely worked surface of the background, underlines the level of inspired draughtsmanship which Dufy achieved in his finest etchings.

The theme is characteristic of Dufy's work in the immediate post-war period, the Mediterranean background with the carefree symbols of yachts under full sail, steamers, bathers and butterflies set as a counterpoint to the relaxed figure of the nude in the sunlight, all an expression of the lyrical joie-de -vivre which had come as a reaction to the horrors of the First War a decade earlier.