La Peche c. 1910

Curator: "La Peche", or "The Fishing Trip," as it translates, by Raoul Dufy, circa 1910. This is a woodcut print, making use of stark monochrome to capture a very interesting lakeside scene. What catches your eye first? Editor: It's so dramatic! The contrast is like a high-stakes game of light and shadow. Look at that figure casting the net – a modern-day Neptune, but caught in the reeds, almost swallowed up by the foliage. There's a feeling of both abundance and being completely hemmed in. Curator: Dufy often explores that tension, doesn't he? Remember he was part of that transition out of impressionism. Those solid blacks aren't exactly fleeting moments of light. More like eternal forms... Editor: Precisely. I am getting the sense of nature, almost overflowing. Symbolically, it hits me as a contrast of plenty – the catch, the fecund plants, but the process also feels somewhat burdensome. Fishing – what is it but striving after all. It’s no gentle stream in the country! Curator: An interesting take. I would not have said that this is an easy take given his previous colourful impressionist works and art nouveau work at the time. His exploration of fishing themes, this work really harks back to more pastoral archetypes. Perhaps a desire for returning to the basics? Editor: That figure, too, half-hidden amongst the plants on the water. Could it signify leisure – the fruits of labour perhaps, or just simply not being 'seen' in life? The fishing is really contrasted between labour versus relaxation, two sides to life and one must have a way to escape their fishing line! Curator: Could be. The sharp cuts and strong contrasts of the medium lend it a forceful impact and strong message and I would see how that theme ties it together very well. And I think it adds to what you say of the toil of life versus leisure too. Editor: Well, the interesting interpretation is also that we now feel invited to be philosophical from this visual image, even without Dufy expecting it! What better purpose to show Art than something open for many views!