Avant les Courses, Deauville. Before the Races, Deauville. by Raoul Dufy, 1877-1953

Raoul Dufy, 1877-1953
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Avant les Courses, Deauville. Before the Races, Deauville.

Original lithograph in nine colours. Drawn C.I 935/38. Signed with the signature stamp (no impressions were pencil signed). Proof before the issued edition of 75 impressions (There were 15 numbered proofs plus c.5 studio proofs, of which this one). Drawn at Mourlot 1935/38. Edition printed 1949/50. First issued for the Mourlot Centenary Album, Paris 1953.

Excellent impression with brilliant fresh sparkling colours. On pale cream wove Arches paper. Excellent condition. Full margins. Sheet: 19 7/8 x 26ins. Image: 17 x 23 l/8ins (430x585mm).

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Before the Races is one of only four large-scale works that Dufy drew in colour lithography. The marvellous rich glowing colours - brilliant blue, green, red, yellow - typify the enthusiasm for the celebration of life which fills Dufy's post-war art.

Dufy was passionate about horse-racing, and it was a theme which inspired some of his most appealing works. This lithograph is absolutely typical of the freedom of drawing and bold use of colour which characterises his racing subjects. It was drawn in brush and chalk on stone at the Mourlot studio in Paris in the late 1930's. However, apart from one or two working proofs, no edition was printed from the stones before the War. In about 1948 Fernand Mourlot began preparing an exhibition (and portfolio) of lithographs to mark the centenary of the studio in 1953. The edition was printed from the stones in about 1950, and first issued at the time of the Centenary, all the impressions being stamp signed.

Dufy first became interested in printmaking as a medium before 1910. At first, during his Fauve period, he worked only in woodcut using the stark contrasts like the Expressionists. Then in the 1920's he took up lithography, but largely concentrated on monochrome work. He then became attracted to the idea of working in colour lithography, combining the inherent luminosity of the print medium with his rich colour palette. However only four large-scale works were drawn in colour before the Second War. They are the most sought-after works in Duty's graphic oeuvre.