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23 Nogent-sur-Marne, 1934 Signed and dated lower left 'Raoul Dufy 1934' Oil on canvas 38 3/8 x 51 3/8 in, 97.5 x 130.5 cm Provenance M. Knoedler & Co., Inc., New York Frank Perls Galleries, Beverly Hills Mrs. Stephen Clark, New York Private collection (acquired by the owner's family circa 1985) Private collection Exhibitions Pittsburgh, Carnegie Institute, The 1934 International Exhibition of Paintings, October - December 1934, no.164 Paris, Galerie Max Kaganovitch, Oeuvres récentes de Raoul Dufy, June 1936, no.21 London, The Lefevre Gallery (Alex. Reid & Lefevre, Ltd.), Raoul Dufy, July 1936, no.37 Paris, Petit Palais, Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques Modernes, May - October 1937 New York, Bignou Gallery, Raoul Dufy, March - April 1938, no.10 Washington, D.C., The Whyte Galleries, Raoul Dufy, Exhibition of Paintings, Watercolors, Gouaches, and Lithographs, May 1939, no.12 (illus.) Literature New York, Art News, 13 May 1939 Geneva, M. Laffaille, Raoul Dufy, Catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint, Tome III, 1976, p.25, no.952 (illus.) Aside from images of the flamboyant recitals and casinos of the Third Republic, Dufy was interested in the quieter aspects of daily life. A key example of this motif is the seminal painting Nogent-sur-Marne, which is one of the largest in a series of 19 oil paintings, examples of which can now be found at The Art Institute, Chicago and Musée du Havre. In comparison to the rest of this series, Nogent-sur-Marne is one of only two works that offer an unusual perspective of the river and the boathouse through a framed open window and ornate shutters beneath a red awning. Situated on the eastern outskirts of Paris, the Marne River was a favourite subject for artists throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, including Marquet, Cézanne and Pissarro. Like these artists, Dufy was attracted to its pleasure-filled scenes, particularly the daily goings on of canoeists and boatmen. In this group of works made during the 1930s, Dufy focuses particularly on the boathouse with the viaduct to the left. Dora Perez-Tibi explained this eagerness to represent the boatmen: '[what Dufy] is seeking to capture is man at work, surrounded by light.' This iconic painting was exhibited upon its completion in 1934 at the Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh and then at the Petit Palais, Paris in 1937.