Mediterranean retreat

Bright colours are the trademark of Raoul Dufy, who, influenced by Henri Matisse, joined the Fauvists. This French artistic movement used colour as an individual means of expression for non-naturalistic depictions. Dufy's painting style is characterized by strong, short brushstrokes that outline a form in a rough and cubic yet playful manner. He breaks down landscapes, like in this painting, into individual shapes and reassembles them in a two-dimensional rather than three-dimensional composition.

The medieval village painted here, now known as Saint-Paul-de-Vence, for a long time was a popular refuge for many representatives of modernism, including Marc Chagall. The town is located on a hill and is surrounded by a fortification. In the painting, the view is directed from the north to the southwest, where the small village with the church of Saint Paul de Vence and the southern gate of the Provençal town can be glimpsed.