Indian woman 1928

Raoul Dufy’s ‘Indian Woman’ is a feast of pattern painted with what looks like gouache or maybe thin oils. I just love the confidence of the brushstrokes, making something new. The woman is lying among decorative textiles, her body is simply outlined, and her skin painted with warm earth tones. Her clothing and the surrounding fabrics burst with naive flower patterns, and a playful mix of green, pink and red hues. I wonder if Dufy was thinking about Matisse when he painted this? I imagine him looking at the flat planes of color and how they push forward and recede. It's like he’s asking, “How much information do I need to convey the idea of a person in a place?”. The way he renders the scene is really generous and loose. It feels like he’s almost collaborating with the paint itself, letting it lead him to new ideas, and new ways of seeing. That's the real conversation between painters!