The Gascoigne gallery presents the work of the French painter, graphic artist and designer Raoul Dufy.

His early work was Impressionist in style, but over the years he moved towards Fauvism and then towards a more sober style influenced by Cézanne and then finally to his own lighter, highly distinctive style for which he became famous.

Dufy invented rather than represented nature. He was extraordinarily optimistic and this is evident in his airy paintings. He understood the world in terms of decorative art and indeed turned his attention to textile design for a while, which like his paintings were a tapestry of clear colours. Many argue that his paintings lack substance, others say that they simply express a delight in life.

Dufy remained faithful to many themes- racecourses, regattas, his blue studio, nudes, beach scenes- during his career prolonging Monet's original idea of series. He also painted black cargo-boats in an attempt to create light with black colour. He achieved considerable success by the mid 1920's and the accessibility of his work helped to popularize modern art.

"What I wanted to do was to carry my investigations further than those of the Impressionists. The Impressionists looked for the inter-relationships of flecks and patches of colour, and that in itself was good. Now, however, we need something more than the satisfaction of vision alone; we need to create the world of things unseen." Raoul Dufy.