Alongside his fellow fauves, Raoul Dufy imbued a vibrant sense of decoration and design into his work, resulting in his now being regarded as amongst the most important of the early 20th century. Admired for his use of brilliant colour and calligraphic brushstrokes, Dufy’s esteemed reputation is visible in famous public commissions such as the vast ‘Electricity’ mural made for the 1937 Paris International Exhibition. It was during this period that Dufy painted Roses Rouges.

Roses Rouges is a lively watercolour and gouache that exemplifies the spontaneity, vitality and the sense of adventure in Dufy’s mature style, as well as his masterful and exuberant colour palette. In this painting, elegant brushwork is punctuated by the crimson petals of the roses. The red of the flowers is contrasted against the washes of blue in the tablecloth, evocative of Dufy’s underlying agility with colour theory.

Dufy was famed for his joyous and vibrant flower paintings. This work is a fine example of his talent for capturing the delicate beauty of such a subject. As Marcelle Berr de Turique noted “The wealth and, especially, the pictorial impact of Raoul Dufy’s watercolours constitute a dazzling moment of 20th century painting.”