Raoul Dufy (1877–1953) is best known for his colorful depictions of social events and leisure activities at racecourses, regattas, and the coastal beaches of France. Born in Le Havre, he later moved to Paris to study at the École des Beaux-Arts, where his early work reflected an Impressionist influence before he began painting in the Fauvist style around 1905. Beginning his career as a Fauve painter, Dufy developed a delicate and whimsical style that translated well to book illustrations, fabrics, ceramics, murals, and textiles. His later work was marked by creative collaborations with textile and ceramic manufacturers, as well as fashion designers.

Particularly accomplished in his works on paper, Dufy’s unique style is distinguished by greatly simplified, even skeletal, figures, foreshortened perspectives, and thin washes of color applied rapidly over a light ground.