Raoul Dufy - "Taormina". Watercolor on wove paper.... Lot 714

Raoul Dufy - "Taormina". Watercolor on wove paper. 1922. 50 x 63,5 cm. Signed, titled and dated lower right. - Taormina as a very popular subject - influence of Fauvism is still recognizable: intense color and loose application of paint - Dufy captures the shimmering summer light of Sicily The present watercolor shows the Greek theater in Taormina in Sicily, a subject that Dufy painted several times. Inspired by the Mediterranean landscape and ancient and modern buildings bathed in glistening sunlight, Dufy brings the ruins of the Greek theater to life with dynamic, broad brushstrokes. In this he is still under the influence of Fauvism, as can be seen from the colorful, intense coloring and the loose application of paint. For Dufy, the main attraction of Sicily was the light. "In Taormina (...) the air, touched by a fiery light, shimmered between the columns of the Greek theater, above the overhanging cliffs from which the view fell into the sea below (...) [Dufy] had settled on the terraces in the ruins of the Greek theater and painted its columns." (Pierre Courthion, quoted in: D. Perez-Tibi, Dufy, London 1989, p. 136). The work is listed in the online catalog raisonné of Fanny Guillon-Laffaille with the number As-0532 (www.catalogue-raisonne-raoul-dufy.fr/oeuvres/taormina-3/). Provenance: Ader-Picard-Tajan, Paris 24.11.1988, lot 19; private collection, Monaco. Taxation: Differential tax plus 7% VAT: Margin Scheme (non EU).