Mar 04, 2021 - Sale 2560

Sale 2560 - Lot 319

Price Realized: $ 1,875
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 2,000 - $ 3,000
RAOUL DUFY (after)
Rideau de Théâtre pour le Ballet Palm Beach.

Color lithograph, after 1933. 495x645 mm; 19 1/2x25 1/2 inches, full margins (sheet). Edition of 200. Printed and published by Mourlot, Paris. A very good impression with vibrant colors.

This color lithograph is based on a gouache study by Dufy (1877-1953, see lots 320
and 321
) for a stage set design that the Comte Etienne de Beaumont, a leading patron of the theater and a director, commissioned from the artist in 1933 for the ballet Palm Beach. The backdrop of this plein-air ballet is the beach at Cannes, seen through an awning and veranda of the casino "Palm Beach." The nautical imagery was among Dufy's favored subjects, he often featured in his paintings the resort areas and seaside attractions in and around his native Le Havre, Normandy.

Dufy provided the costumes for the ballet as well, creating colorful bathing suits accessorized by flowing scarves, which echoed the whorls of the central shell and the motion of the sea. Palm Beach premiered at the Théâtre des Champs Elysees, Paris, on June 8, 1934, and two years later it was performed at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London.