RAOUL DUFY 1877-1953
Le Havre 1877-1953 Forcalquier (French)
Title: The Marseille Harbour, ca. 1930
Technique: Original Hand Signed Etching on MBM Arches paper
Paper size: 28 x 37.2 cm / 11 x 14.6 in
Plate size: 22.8 x 24 cm / 9 x 9.5 in
Additional Information: This Etching is hand signed in pencil with the artist initial "RD" in the lower right margin.
It is also inscribed in pencil "1er epreuve" (First Proof) next to the signature.
The paper bears the MBM watermark.
This is a rare proof of an etching made during a trip to Marseille.
This is one of the proofs for the final etching that was to appear in Dufy’s most celebrated illustrated book: La Belle Enfant ou L'Amour à quarante ans”,by Eugene Montfort, published in Paris by Ambroise Vollard in 1930 . It was illustrated with 110 original etchings by Dufy.
"In search of accuracy of detail for La Belle-Enfant, one of the most celebrated of Dufy's illustrated books, he made preliminary studies in Marseilles, the locale of the novel.” Vollard recounts the determination of Dufy to get exactly the right images he wanted, “His conscientiousness was extraordinary. After several journeys to Marseilles a Marseilles that is beginning to disappear, which adds still more to the interest of these illustrations just as he was about to engrave one of the last plates, representing Alinees salon, the artists felt doubtful...He decided to go to Marseilles...again.” (257-8) Vollard, Ambroise. Recollections of Picture Dealer (1936).
Condition: Very Good condition. Time staining and foxing. Tiny loses of paper on upper left margin. Tape remains verso.