Silk fabric by Raoul Dufy
Playful printed patterns of shells, birds and bathers for the silk firm Bianchini-Férier.
Dufy designed for Bianchini-Férier in 1912–1928, and Paul Poiret used the fabrics for dresses. The patterns turned the artist’s style into fashion. Examples are in the Musée des Tissus in Lyon and the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris.
Materials: Silk or linen, printed
Manufacture: Printed with wood blocks or rollers in Lyon after Dufy’s gouaches; each pattern made in many colourways.
The quick, sketchy outlines – like a drawing, not a strict pattern.
Colour fields that do not follow the outlines exactly, as in Dufy’s painting.