Artwork
Opstilling
Opstilling is an oil painting by the Fauvist artist Raoul Dufy. It dates from 1925 and is held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst.
About this work
Overview
Created in 1925, Opstilling is an oil on canvas by French painter Raoul Dufy. The work is part of the collection of Denmark’s National Gallery of Art (Statens Museum for Kunst). It presents a carefully arranged still life, centered on a decorative bowl brimming with fruit and foliage, set against a subdued blue backdrop.
Subject & Meaning
The composition focuses on a large, elaborately patterned bowl filled with assorted fruit and green leaves, accompanied by a smaller vessel and additional fruit pieces on a tabletop. The arrangement emphasizes the abundance of nature’s produce while the muted background allows the objects to command visual attention, suggesting a quiet, domestic celebration of everyday luxury.
Technique & Style
Dufy employs confident, bold brushwork that builds texture across the surface, especially in the rendering of the bowl’s surface and the fruit skins.
Dufy employs confident, bold brushwork that builds texture across the surface, especially in the rendering of the bowl’s surface and the fruit skins. A restrained palette of greens, yellows, and earth tones dominates, while the background’s soft blue provides contrast. The painter’s handling balances detailed observation with a slightly decorative, flattened treatment characteristic of his interwar period.
History & Provenance
After its completion in the mid‑1920s, Opstilling entered the holdings of the Statens Museum for Kunst, where it remains on display. The work reflects Dufy’s prolific output during the 1920s, a period when he frequently explored still‑life subjects for both private commissions and public exhibition.
Context
The painting belongs to a phase in Dufy’s career when he shifted from the bright, Fauvist hues of his early work toward a more subdued, tonal approach. This period coincides with his increasing interest in decorative composition and the integration of everyday objects into a refined visual language, aligning him with contemporary French modernists who revisited traditional genres.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Raoul Dufy was a French painter associated with the Fauvist movement. He gained recognition for his vibrant and decorative style, which became popular in various forms, such as textile designs, and public building…
