WLBT 3 - Jackson, MS: Raoul Dufy on display at MS Museum of Art

Raoul Dufy on display at MS Museum of Art

By Walt Grayson - bio | email

It's appropriate that spring is returning to the trees outside the Mississippi Museum of Art. Because color and light are the themes of the current showing inside the building, Raoul Dufy, A Celebration of Beauty.

Dufy made a lasting impression on the art world before his death, mid-20th century. And some of his best examples are on display in Mississippi now. Betsy Bradley, the executive director of the Mississippi Museum of Art says Dufy was not only a painter, but also a fashion designer in the sense that his art work expanded beyond canvas, but to colorful designs for fabric.

 Betsy Bradley: "He not only was a gifted painter, but also was a designer of the premium textiles of the day that fashion designers used when they were making the highest caliber evening gowns and the newest rage of fashions for women in the teens and 20's. So we have the opportunity, the first time really in this country, for people to see those designs, gowns, all kinds of things related to the textile industry in France, too," said Brady.

Maybe that's one thing about this show that is extraordinary. Much of the textiles here had been packed away in warehouses since the 1930's. Now they've been rediscovered and are on display. You could picture Paris of the early 20th century dressed in these colors.

"Well, this is an exhibition that really shows a very fine painter and an explosion of color in ways that had not been used before. He is kind of the quintessential French Parisian painter. And we have works here from private collection that you'll never get to see anywhere besides the home of the collector. And also these wonderful fabrics that are just hidden away and are a part of history now," Brady added.

The cheerful sketches, the fine paintings, the fabric are from another time and a quarter of the world away from Mississippi. But Raoul Dufy is as refreshing as Mississippi springtime pulling out of winter. And it's our once in a lifetime chance to see the creations of another master up close and in our own back yard. Raoul Dufy, A Celebration of Beauty is in Mississippi through July 5th, 2009.