Skip to main content
Label Text Executed in watercolor, "African Holiday" is the richly patterned interior of a tent, with spectators observing the activity of horses in the field beyond. Born at Le Havre in 1877, Dufy began his study at the Le Havre School of Fine Arts in 1892. In 1902 he was sent to Paris under a grant by the Le Havre Municipality. During the two decades following, Dufy's paintings and woodcuts moved from pure to muted color. Only after an extended stay in Venice, did his painting return to the pure primary color which characterized his later wotk. In the early twenties, Dufy became interested in the movement for which his mastery of line served him well, and the superimposition of line as definition over background washes of color emerged as his personal style. "African Holiday" followed a trip to Morocco in 1925 and is one of the many subjects he drew from in his wide travels. In1950 Dufy came to Boston for treatment for arthritis. He died at Forcalquier in 1953. Source Bulletin, September 1961.
Exhibition History"Dufy Watercolours," Edmonton Art Gallery, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, Nov. 27, 1981 - Jan. 9, 1982

"Raoul Dufy," San Francisco Museum of Art, Apr. - May 1954
Published References"Raoul Dufy," San Francisco Musuem of Art, 1954, exh. cat. no.103, ill. p.28

DMAC Bulletin, Sept. 1961, cover ill.

DES MOINES ART CENTER: SELECTED PAINTINGS, SCULPTURES AND WORKS ON PAPER, Des Moines Art Center, 1985, ref. p.64

"Letters from John Cowles to his Family, 1943-1976, 1953", Durango Herald Press, 2006, cover ill.
DimensionsSheet: 19 7/8 × 25 3/4 in. (50.5 × 65.4 cm)
Accession Number 1959.42
Classificationswork on paper
CopyrightPublic Domain
SignedRaoul Dufy (l/r)
ProvenanceArtist. Dalzell Hatfield Galleries, Los Angeles; Mr. and Mrs. David Kruidenier, Des Moines [probably purchased from the previous, by 1954]; Des Moines Art Center [gift of the previous, 1959]
African Holiday
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines