Dufy, Portrait of Gustave Coquiot
Raoul DUFY (1877-1953), Portrait of Gustave Coquiot, 1924, pencil, 52 x 40.5 cm. © MuMa Le Havre / Charles Maslard
A book collector from Rouen who was selling manuscripts to the Le Havre municipal library also decided to give the Musée d’art moderne André Malraux a drawing by Raoul Dufy he had in his possession.
An undated sketch of Gustave Coquiot, it has a direct connection with two other portraits of Gustave Coquiot made in 1924: one is held at the Musée national d’art modern–Centre Pompidou and the other, currently unlocated, is listed in Fanny Guillon-Laffaille's 1991 catalogue raisonné of drawings by Raoul Dufy under number 750.
Dufy in all likelihood produced these three drawings during the same session or within a short period of time.
Very slight differences can be seen here and there, the drawing at MuMa is set apart by the three-quarter profile Dufy used to portray the heavy-set face of the man of letters, his right hand placed high on his chest. The technique is similar with swift, confident lines, applied with more or less pressure, and smudging to shape the features of the face.
The drawing is dedicated to Mauricia, Coquiot's wife.
In 1924, the year the portrait was drawn, Gustave Coquiot was 59. The French art critic and writer was born in Puits (Côte-d'Or) on September 24, 1865 and died in Paris on June 6, 1926, two years after this sketch was made.
At the time of portraiture, Gustave Coquiot, who had already published most of his books, had just released his work on Georges Seurat.
Dufy worked on the illustration of one of them, La terre frottée d’ail (The land rubbed with garlic), which was published in 1925 by Delpeuch (97 line drawings, including 20 large inserts).
Earlier, in 1901, Pablo Picasso who had just moved to Paris painted two portraits of Gustave Coquiot (held at the Musée Picasso in Paris and the Foundation Emil G. Bührle Collection in Switzerland).
This donation significantly enriches the collection of Raoul Dufy drawings at MuMa, which until now contained only one portrait (other than that of his wife).
An undated sketch of Gustave Coquiot, it has a direct connection with two other portraits of Gustave Coquiot made in 1924: one is held at the Musée national d’art modern–Centre Pompidou and the other, currently unlocated, is listed in Fanny Guillon-Laffaille's 1991 catalogue raisonné of drawings by Raoul Dufy under number 750.
Dufy in all likelihood produced these three drawings during the same session or within a short period of time.
Very slight differences can be seen here and there, the drawing at MuMa is set apart by the three-quarter profile Dufy used to portray the heavy-set face of the man of letters, his right hand placed high on his chest. The technique is similar with swift, confident lines, applied with more or less pressure, and smudging to shape the features of the face.
The drawing is dedicated to Mauricia, Coquiot's wife.
In 1924, the year the portrait was drawn, Gustave Coquiot was 59. The French art critic and writer was born in Puits (Côte-d'Or) on September 24, 1865 and died in Paris on June 6, 1926, two years after this sketch was made.
At the time of portraiture, Gustave Coquiot, who had already published most of his books, had just released his work on Georges Seurat.
Dufy worked on the illustration of one of them, La terre frottée d’ail (The land rubbed with garlic), which was published in 1925 by Delpeuch (97 line drawings, including 20 large inserts).
Earlier, in 1901, Pablo Picasso who had just moved to Paris painted two portraits of Gustave Coquiot (held at the Musée Picasso in Paris and the Foundation Emil G. Bührle Collection in Switzerland).
This donation significantly enriches the collection of Raoul Dufy drawings at MuMa, which until now contained only one portrait (other than that of his wife).
