A Rare Raoul Dufy Tapestry Rediscovered
Auction on Wednesday, March 25, 2026
The 20th century continually revealed the many facets of Raoul Dufy (1877–1953); this time, it is a rare and masterful textile work that resurfaces. The auction house Tajan will soon present at its upcoming Campagne sale a unique tapestry created in 1948, a striking testament to the dialogue the artist so skillfully established between painting and the decorative arts.
Exhibited that same year at the presentation of the artist’s Tapisseries de haute lisse at the Galerie Louis Carré in Paris, it has been carefully preserved for more than seventy-five years in the family of its original owner. The tapestry is accompanied by a letter from Raoul Dufy to his gallerist, attesting to its unique nature, as well as by the original exhibition brochure.
Presented from 8 October to 13 November 1948 at the Galerie Louis Carré, the exhibition formed part of the broader movement to revive French tapestry in the post-war period, to which Raoul Dufy made a decisive contribution. Through his direct approach to the motif and his close collaboration with master weavers, the artist no longer regarded tapestry as a mere textile transposition, but as a true creative space at the crossroads of painting and the decorative arts.
Handwoven in spun wool dyed with natural pigments, Campagne unfolds a radiant palette of blues, greens, ochres, and reds, in which the vibrancy of the line and the freedom of gesture infuse the textile medium with the power of a painting. Exceptional on the market for its monumental dimensions (107 × 414 cm), this panoramic tapestry stands as a major landmark in the 20th-century revival of tapestry and testifies to the renewed interest of modern painters in the decorative arts following the Second World War.
” Campagne “, 1948
Panoramic tapestry, unique piece.
In polychrome wool, high-warp weaving (haute-lisse), depicting a gently rolling pastoral landscape animated by houses in the background
and a pilaster surmounted by a flaming urn in the foreground; in shades of blue, green, ochre, and red.
Signed in the weave lower right: “Raoul Dufy.”
107 x 414 cm
EXHIBITION: Raoul Dufy: Tapisseries de haute lisse, Galerie Louis Carré, Paris, 8 October – 13 November 1948.
PROVENANCE:
Acquired at the exhibition at the Galerie Louis Carré in 1948;
thence by descent in the family of the original owner.
A letter dated 28 October 1948, addressed to Mr. Louis Carré and signed by Raoul Dufy, attesting that this work is a unique piece, may be provided to the purchaser.
20TH CENTURY DECORATIVE ARTS & DESIGN AUCTION
Wednesday, March 25, 2026
Tajan, 37 rue des Mathurins, 75008 Paris
CONTACTS
Marie-Cécile Michel – Director, Decorative Arts & 20th Century Design
+33 1 53 30 30 58 – [email protected]
Ariane de Miramon – Director of Communications, Press & Marketing
+33 1 53 30 30 68 – [email protected]