Paris, Galerie Daniel Malingue, Raoul Dufy, 1987, no. 36

Dufy first approached the subject of horse racing as early as 1913, but by the 1920s it had become a central theme in his oeuvre. The range of bright colors and the vibrant energy at these events appealed to Dufy. Encouraged by his friend and fashion designer Paul Poiret, Dufy initially concentrated his attentions on the fashionable dress and interactions of the sociable crowd in and around the races. He was subsequenly drawn to the exhilirating atmosphere surrounding the race itself. In Courses à Epsom, Dufy employs both of these subjects. With an active crowd mingling with the jockeys in the foreground, the background provides a glimpse into the excitement and activity on the racetrack and in the stands. Dufy saturates his subjects with rich colors that accentuate the vitality at these events. As Bryan Robertson describes, "Gradually, in Dufy's racecourse scenes... everything is given up to the crisp, jaunty interaction between green turf, red brick buildings, white railings, multi-coloured crowds, green trees against blue sky with sprightly puffs of clouds" (Bryan Robertson, 'An Introduction to Raoul Dufy' (exhibition catalogue), Raoul Dufy 1887-1953, London, 1983).

The horse races provided ample opportunity for Dufy to employ his couleur-lumière. This technique, which emphasizes color over the shading properties of black and white, allowed Dufy to convey light in a distinct  way. As Dora Perez-Tibi describes, "These racecourse scenes - whether in France, at Deauville, Lonchamp or Chantilly or, in England, at Epsom, Ascot or Goodwood -allowed Dufy to put his 'couleur-lumière' theory into practice... He decided to convey light by means of colour; the absence of colour represents the unlit area... For Dufy, the balance of the composition comes from the distribution of all the points of light in the centre of each element of the painting. It was here that he found the secret of his composition" (Dora Perez-Tibi, Dufy, New York, 1989, pp. 158-162). Courses à Epsom reveals Dufy's extraordinary ability to convey the vibrant atmosphere that pervades the spectacle and social event of horse ra🌟cing.