Raoul Dufy: Color and resilience in the fight against rheumatoid arthritis

Raoul Dufy was born in 1877 in the city of Le Havre, France. He showed an early interest in painting and attended the École des Beaux Arts in Paris, where he was influenced by Impressionism and later by Fauvism and Cubism. He achieved a style of his own, marked by colour. His paintings depicted modern life, often with bright colours and energetic scenes of urban and social life. In 1935, he developed severe rheumatoid arthritis, which affected his hands and joints. Despite this, he continued to create art until his death. He underwent numerous medical treatments of the time. In 1950, he was invited to the United States to participate in initial ACTH and cortisone therapies and achieved a significant improvement. He returned to France, but died in 1953 at the age of 76 from an intestinal haemorrhage. His artistic legacy and his strength to face this disease are an inspiration for the future.