L'œuvre en bref

This work depicts an urban scene, centered on a street decorated with French flags. Rather than seeking to recreate a precise historical moment, Raoul Dufy composed an image structured around coloured rhythms and architectural lines, playing on the contrasts between the geometric shapes of the flags and the bustle of the crowd.

The street is lined with buildings with bright, colourful facades, in front of which float large blue-white-red flags, hung high or stretched across the buildings. Below, groups of passers-by are depicted in rough silhouettes, forming a dark mass on the green ground. The palette is vivid but limited, with flat tones of blue, red, white and green. The perspectives are simplified and the shadows stylised, giving the scene an almost decorative dimension. The painting conveys an atmosphere of popular celebration through a highly constructed visual arrangement.

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