In the 1940s Dufy turned to the theme of great composers and painted homages to Mozart, Bach, Chopin and Debussy. Ubiquitous in these works, the violin would become the central subject of a series Dufy painted between 1946 and 1948.

Living in Perpignan in 1946, Dufy associated extensively with musicians that he portrayed playing their instruments. Painted the same year, Le violon bleu shows Dufy’s focus on a subject he explored in varying compositions and monochromes. Blue had a specific importance for Dufy and was the colour he chose for the walls of his Parisian studio. He proclaimed blue to be the only colour powerful enough to retain individuality throughout all its shades.