Beschreibung:

Scène de pesage, 1949 Signed Raoul Dufy (lower right) Oil on canvas - Huile sur toile 140 x 161 cm - 55.1 x 63.4 in. AED 5,510,000 - 7,346,000 Provenance Commissioned by Prince Aly Khan (1949) Gérard Oury collection Private collection, by descent from the above Private collection, Europe Sale: Artcurial, Hôtel Marcel Dassault, Paris, Gérard Oury Collection, April 20, 2009, lot 30 Literature Jean-Paul-Crespelle, Raoul Dufy il y a cinquante ans faisait banco sur la jeunesse, L'Officiel, No. 618, Sept. 1975, ill. in colour p. 237 Maurice Laffaille, Raoul Dufy Catalogue raisonné de l'OEuvre peint, Tome III, Editions Motte, Geneva, 1976, No. 1277, ill. p. 291 (edited with incorrect dimensions) Certificate Fanny Guillon-Laffaille has confirmed the authenticity of this work Public notes 'Raoul Dufy's first interest in the races was disclosed by his first painting titled Le Paddock and executed in 1913. Ten years later between 1923-1925, Dufy accompanied Paul Poiret (the French couturier) and became a routine visitor to the horse races. Dufy started drafting, drawing and painting the racetrack theme and quickly sketched the horses, silhouettes and atmosphere of the paddocks. Gerard Oury, in his book titled Mémoires d'éléphant, recollects how his mother would go to the races, dressed by the couturier Paul Poiret ..and is she the woman portrayed in one of his watercolours in the foreground? Dufy also liked to paint his horses' profile or present a three quarter view, leaving the spectator to admire the costumes and the races. The general chromatist colour is green so as to place everyone on the verdure (with more or less variants to its intensity) so Dufy could create his own ambiance. During the years that followed between 1930-35, Dufy continued to paint numerous racecourse panoramas. He felt at ease, the colour and life married well, so well in his works, from paintings, ceramics and tapestry, that he gained an important notoriety among his collectors, dealers and museums. In 1949, Raoul Dufy receives a command from the Prince Aly Khan and he executes the painting present in today's catalogue: Scène de pesage. The artist puts forward his inventive theory of 'ambiance and tones'. In 1949, Dufy is at the height of his career, and is acknowledged as a skilled painter capably using different mediums, such as oils, watercolours, drawings, tapestry, ceramics, materials and decorating and designing both apartments and costumes. One can hardly discuss the theme of Dufy's horse racing, if one omits the importance of the role of Paul Poiret (the French couturier), for whom Dufy also designed fabrics. Paul Poiret introduced Dufy to his famous prosperous clients and race horse owners which permitted Dufy to be commissioned by these wealthy clients such as the renowned Prince Aly Khan. It is in this spirit that Scène de pesage was executed in 1949. Raoul Dufy gave the primary colour both the function of distributing light and the role of the narrator. The chromatic concentration almost presents the horses as monuments. It is only in the foreground, that a chestnut coloured horse and her jockey, with white shorts and a yellow helmet are represented with their proper colours.' 'The painter has earned the right to a drop of silence, without comments, to have the pleasure of simple contemplation, Raoul Dufy wrote in his notes. Contemplate now the modulations of the brush, the elegance of the drawing, the justice of their attitudes, the original composition and...the humour of the artist who painted a small straw-bottomed chair. It is empty. For whom is it? The artist alone knows the answer.'