Raoul Dufy's sumptuous colors take over Seoul in two simultaneous retrospectives

Installation view of French painter Raoul Dufy's retrospective entitled "Raoul Dufy, The Melody of Happiness" at The Hyundai Seoul in the city's Yeongdeungpo District / Courtesy of GNC Media

By Park Han-sol

French artist Raoul Dufy in 1937 / Courtesy of Ministere de la Culture - Mediatheque du patrimoine et de la photographie, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Francois Kollar

If one were to sum up French artist Raoul Dufy (1877-1953) in a single phrase, a strong contender would be "a jack of all esthetic trades" ― as once dubbed by The New York Times in its Sept. 3, 1999, article.

While best known for his vivaciously colored, lyrical canvas works and watercolors, Dufy was also a printmaker, fashion and book illustrator, draftsman and textile designer.

And those in Seoul are offered a rare, comprehensive glimpse of the artist's creative journey this year. More than 350 of his paintings, woodblock prints, drawings, ceramics and textiles have taken over the city via the two simultaneous retrospectives mounted at The Hyundai Seoul and the Seoul Arts Center's Hangaram Art Museum.

Raoul Dufy's "The Woman in Pink" (1908) / Courtesy of Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI/Bertrand Prevost/Dist. RMN-GP

Dufy's stylistic forays on canvas spotlighted at The Hyundai Seoul

It was after making a series of early forays into impressionism, fauvism and cubism at the beginning of the 20th century that Dufy eventually realized his own signature style ― defined by blithe splashes of color, lightness and lyricism.

The exhibition, "Raoul Dufy, The Melody of Happiness," at The Hyundai Seoul begins by tracing the artist's wide-ranging stylistic exploration through paintings such as "The Beach at Sainte-Adresse" (1904), an impressionist snapshot of the seaside in Normandy, France, and "The Woman in Pink" (1908), a chromatic portrait of his future wife Eugenie-Emilienne Brisson with fauvist injections.

The show is drawn from the 1,500-piece collection of the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the world's largest holder of the French painter's works. Curated by the Paris center's Christian Briend, it offers a compact, well-paced view of the creator's evolving oeuvre for those who may not be familiar with his name via some 130 works.

After discovering his own visual language filled with fresh colors and delightful spontaneity, Dufy painted a number of subjects that best matched this style. One prominent scene is the Mediterranean coast overflowing with swimming women, shells, sailboats and sea goddesses ― as in "Amphitrite" (1935-1953) on display.

Raoul Dufy's "L'Atelier de l'impasse Guelma" (1935/1952) Courtesy of Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI/Jean-Francois Tomasian/Dist. RMN-GP

His other favored theme was his own studio, from his first atelier in Paris to those in the French communes of Vence and Perpignan. Often illuminated by large windows facing the outside, the resplendent scene featured the likes of easels, canvases and a violin ― the instrument that hints at Dufy's musical upbringing.

"My atelier is extraordinary: a huge window overlooking a terrace and a magnificent panorama," he once wrote. "With a good model and my atelier in the background, I will hopefully make a sensational series."

Raoul Dufy's "The Electricity Fairy" (1952-53) Courtesy of Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI/Georges Meguerditchian/Dist. RMN-GP

The exhibition culminates in the artist's best-known tour de force, "The Electricity Fairy." In 1937, he was commissioned to produce a 6-meter-wide fresco themed around the history of electricity and its technical applications for the International Exposition of Art and Technology in Modern Life in Paris.

For the monumental mural, Dufy mixed ancient Greco-Roman mythology with modern industrial developments, birthing a unique composition featuring Zeus' thunderbolts, rainbow goddess Iris, power station generators and 110 scientists who contributed to the invention of electricity.

More than a decade later, he reproduced the fresco in a lithograph series and colored it with gouache ― which fills an entire wall of a room in the Seoul show.

"The Melody of Happiness" runs through Sept. 6.

Raoul Dufy's "Boats Dressed with Flags" (1946) / Courtesy of Edmond Henrard Collection

Dufy featured as jack of all trades at Hangaram Art Museum

Whereas the exhibition at The Hyundai Seoul paints a comprehensive and structured picture of Dufy with a stronger emphasis on his canvas works, "Raoul Dufy: Colorful Symphony" at the Hangaram Art Museum is more fluidly organized, turning its focus to different mediums beyond the realm of paintings along with a more immersive ― but perhaps shallow ― presentation.

Curated by Eric Blanchegorge, director of the Museum of Fine Arts and Archeology in Troyes, the show brings together some 180 pieces that mainly hail from the private collection amassed by the Belgian businessman and collector Edmond Henrard.

Like "The Melody of Happiness," it features a range of paintings, drawings and watercolors each portraying stretches of Mediterranean coastline, his own atelier and the Parisian urbanscapes.

It even spotlights another cruder edition of Dufy's "The Electricity Fairy" lithograph series ― which is engraved, printed and stamped by a third party after the artist's death ― alongside its 8-meter-tall digital art projection.

Decorative, geometric fabric patterns originally conceived by Raoul Dufy have been reborn as silk dresses with contemporary designs as part of the artist's retrospective, "Raoul Dufy: Colorful Symphony," at the Hangaram Art Museum in southern Seoul / Korea Times photo by Park Han-sol

But the exhibition's charm lies elsewhere, mainly in works that exist beyond the canvas.

These include his extensive book and fashion illustrations, such as the dynamic woodblock prints produced for the French poet and playwright Guillaume Apollinaire's "The Bestiary, or Procession of Orpheus" (1910).

One section brings to the center stage Dufy's contribution to textile design in the form of a mini-fashion show. On display are decorative, geometric fabric patterns conceived by the artist. These printed decorative pieces have subsequently been turned into silk dresses, twill jackets and evening gowns by contemporary designers and showcased in Korea for the first time.

The 2013 documentary on the artist, "Raoul Dufy, la Lumiere entre les Lignes," directed by Sonia Cantalapiedra, can also be viewed at the museum.

"Colorful Symphony" runs until Sept. 10.