had flirted briefly with yet another style, Cubism, that Dufy developed his own distinctive approach. It involved skeletal structures arranged with foreshortened perspective, and the use of thin washes of color applied quickly, in a manner that came to be known as stenographic. Dufy's cheerful oils and watercolors depict events of the time period, such as yachting scenes, sparkling views of the French Riviera, chic parties and musical events. The optimistic, fashionably decorative and illustrative nature of much of Dufy's work has meant that his output has been less highly valued critically than the works of artists who have addressed a wider range of social concerns. For the 1937 Exposition International in Paris, Dufy completed one of the largest paintings ever contemplated, a huge and immensely popular ode to electricity titled La Fée Electricité (painted in oil on plywood). Dufy also acquired a reputation as an illustrator and commercial artist. He painted murals for public buildings and also produced a significant number of tapestries and ceramic designs. His plates appear in books by Guillaume Apollinaire, Stéphane Mallarmé and André Gide. In 1909, Dufy was commissioned by Paul Poiret to design stationery for the house. After 1912, he designed textile patterns for Bianchini-Ferier, which were used for garments worn by Poiret and Charvet. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, Dufy exhibited at the annual Salon des Tuileries in Paris. By 1950, his ability to paint was diminished when his hands were impaired by rheumatoid arthritis and he had to fasten a brush to his hand to work. In April he went to Boston to undergo an experimental treatment with cortisone and corticotropin, based on the work of Philip S. Hench. It proved successful, and some of his next works were dedicated to the doctors and researchers in the United States. In 1952 he received the grand prize for painting in the 26th Venice Biennale. Dufy died of intestinal bleeding at Forcalquier, France, on 23 March 1953, likely the result of his continuous treatment. He was buried near Matisse in the Cimiez Monastery Cemetery in Cimiez, a suburb of the city of Nice. Collections Among the public collections holding works by Raoul Dufy are: Art Gallery of Ontario, Canada Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, Kalamazoo, MI, USA McNay Art Museum, TX, USA Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris, France Museum de Fundatie, Zwolle, Netherlands National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., USA Van Abbemuseum,