Dufy – Le Train à Antibes

Raoul Dufy
(1877 Le Havre – 1953 Forcalquier)

LE TRAIN À ANTIBES (Train to Antibes)

Drawn in 1926
Black ink on paper
25 x 39 cm
stamped lower right with the initials R D

Provenance: Collection of Monsieur and Madame Lonchamp

Literature: Fanny Guillon-Laffaille, Raoul Dufy. Catalogue Raisonné des Dessins, vol. 1, Paris 1991, p. 80, no. 164

Expertise by Fanny Guillon-Laffaille, Bois Colombes, April 2023. According to her statement, this sheet is a draft for Gustave Coquiot’s book ‘La terre frottée d’ail’, which Dufy illustrated. (Sotheby’s sale price for the watercolour accompanying the drawing: £37,000)

Those who did not own a luxury car travelled to the Côte d’Azur by train in the 1920s. Everyone flocked there, artists and the hautevolee of the Années folles alike. Dufy’s oeuvre contains many enchanting views of the Côte d’Azur. According to Guillon-Laffaille, Dufy drew his train in Antibes as an illustration for Gustave Coquiot’s book ‘La terre frottée d’ail’, an art history travel guide with culinary tips. In the book, Coquiot states that a stop in Antibes is not worthwhile and that one should continue on as quickly as possible. This explains why Dufy did not focus on the castle, the picturesque old town or the harbour, but on an express train on the railway line between Nice and Cannes. In the end, his magnificent drawing was not used in the book. However, he liked it so much himself that he repeated the motif several times in watercolour.
On the back of the cardboard box is a sketch of Antibes showing the main sights that Dufy depicted behind his dominant train.