Provenance
Possibly M. Valery, Paris.[1] (Galerie Georges Bernheim, Paris); by whom sold June 1929 to Chester Dale [1883-1962], New York; bequest 1963 to NGA.
[1]According to a bill in object file, the painting "in collection M. Valery, Photographer, Paris, whose collection it never left until Bernheim bought it". However, according to Bernheim, it was bought directly from the artist.
Accession Number
1963.10.143
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
overall: 80.7 x 100 cm (31 3/4 x 39 3/8 in.) | framed: 109.8 x 128.9 x 8.8 cm (43 1/4 x 50 3/4 x 3 7/16 in.)
Classification
Painting
Credit Line
Chester Dale Collection
Tags
Painting Early Modern (1901–1950) Oil Painting Canvas French
Background & Context
Background Story
Raoul Dufy (1877-1953) was a French painter known for his cheerful, light-filled scenes of leisure and landscape rendered in a distinctive style that combined rapid, calligraphic drawing with flat, bright color. Saint-Jeannet from 1910 depicts the hilltop village of Saint-Jeannet in the south of France, near Nice, with the compositional clarity and chromatic brightness that distinguish Dufy's best work. The 1910 date places this in the period when Dufy was developing the style that would define his mature work: the rapid, sketch-like drawing and the flat, decorative color that make his paintings feel simultaneously spontaneous and carefully composed.
Cultural Impact
Dufy's southern French landscapes are among the most characteristic works in 20th-century French painting because they define a particular vision of the Mediterranean—bright, cheerful, and decorative—that has influenced everything from tourism posters to interior design. Saint-Jeannet is early enough (1910) to retain the structural rigor of Dufy's Fauve period while showing the decorative color and calligraphic drawing that would define his mature style.
Why It Matters
Saint-Jeannet is Dufy finding his mature style: the hilltop village rendered with the structural rigor of his Fauve period combined with the decorative color and calligraphic drawing that would define his later work. The 1910 date makes this a bridge between Dufy's Fauve beginnings and the cheerful, light-filled style that would make him one of France's most beloved painters.
