Fauvism ( ) is a style of painting and an

art movement An art movement is a tendency or style in art with a specific art philosophy or goal, followed by a group of artists during a specific period of time, (usually a few months, years or decades) or, at least, with the heyday of the movement defined ...

that emerged in France at the beginning of the 20th century. It was the style of (, ''the wild beasts''), a group of

modern art Modern art includes artistic work produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the styles and philosophies of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the tradit ...

ists whose works emphasized painterly qualities and strong colour over the representational or realistic values retained by

Impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

. While Fauvism as a style began around 1904 and continued beyond 1910, the movement as such lasted only a few years, 1905–1908, and had three exhibitions. John Elderfield, The ''"Wild Beasts" Fauvism and Its Affinities,'' 1976,

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

, p.13, The leaders of the movement were André Derain and

Henri Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual arts, visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, ...

Artists and style

Besides Matisse and Derain, other artists included Robert Deborne,

Albert Marquet Albert Marquet (; 27 March 1875 – 14 June 1947) was a French painter. He initially became one of the Fauve painters and a lifelong friend of Henri Matisse. Marquet subsequently painted in a more naturalistic style, primarily landscapes, bu ...

, Charles Camoin, Bela Czobel, Louis Valtat, Jean Puy, Maurice de Vlaminck, Henri Manguin, Raoul Dufy, Othon Friesz, Adolphe Wansart, Georges Rouault,

Jean Metzinger Jean Dominique Antony Metzinger (; 24 June 1883 – 3 November 1956) was a major 20th-century French painter, theorist, writer, critic and poet, who along with Albert Gleizes wrote the first theoretical work on Cubism. His earliest works, from 1 ...

, Kees van Dongen,

Émilie Charmy Émilie Charmy (; April 2, 1878 – June 7, 1974) was an artist in France's early avant-garde. She worked closely with Fauve artists like Henri Matisse, and was active in exhibiting her artworks in Paris, particularly with Berthe Weill. S ...

and

Georges Braque Georges Braque ( ; ; 13 May 1882 – 31 August 1963) was a major 20th-century List of French artists, French painter, Collage, collagist, Drawing, draughtsman, printmaker and sculptor. His most notable contributions were in his alliance with ...

(subsequently Picasso's partner in

Cubism Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement which began in Paris. It revolutionized painting and the visual arts, and sparked artistic innovations in music, ballet, literature, and architecture. Cubist subjects are analyzed, broke ...

). The paintings of the Fauves were characterized by seemingly wild brush work and strident colors, while their subject matter had a high degree of simplification and

abstraction Abstraction is a process where general rules and concepts are derived from the use and classifying of specific examples, literal (reality, real or Abstract and concrete, concrete) signifiers, first principles, or other methods. "An abstraction" ...

.Tate (2007). Glossary: Fauvism. Retrieved on 2007-12-19
Fauvism, Tate
Fauvism can be classified as an extreme development of

Van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade, he created approximately 2,100 artwork ...

's Post-Impressionism fused with the pointillism of Seurat and other Neo-Impressionist painters, in particular Paul Signac. Other key influences were

Paul Cézanne Paul Cézanne ( , , ; ; ; 19 January 1839 – 22 October 1906) was a French Post-Impressionism, Post-Impressionist painter whose work introduced new modes of representation, influenced avant-garde artistic movements of the early 20th century a ...

and

Paul Gauguin Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (; ; 7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903) was a French painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramist, and writer, whose work has been primarily associated with the Post-Impressionist and Symbolist movements. He was also an influ ...

, whose employment of areas of saturated color—notably in paintings from Tahiti—strongly influenced Derain's work at Collioure in 1905. In 1888, Gauguin had said to Paul Sérusier: "How do you see these trees? They are yellow. So, put in yellow; this shadow, rather blue, paint it with pure

ultramarine Ultramarine is a deep blue pigment which was originally made by grinding lapis lazuli into a powder. Its lengthy grinding and washing process makes the natural pigment quite valuable—roughly ten times more expensive than the stone it comes fr ...

; these red leaves? Put in

vermilion Vermilion (sometimes vermillion) is a color family and pigment most often used between antiquity and the 19th century from the powdered mineral cinnabar (a form of mercury sulfide). It is synonymous with red orange, which often takes a moder ...

." Fauvism has been compared to

Expressionism Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

, both in its use of pure color and unconstrained brushwork. Some of the Fauves were among the first avant-garde artists to collect and study African and Oceanic art, alongside other forms of non-Western and folk art, leading several Fauves toward the development of

Origins

Gustave Moreau was the movement's inspirational teacher;Freeman, p. 243 a controversial professor at the

École des Beaux-Arts ; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth centu ...

in Paris and a Symbolist painter, he taught Matisse, Marquet, Manguin, Rouault, and Camoin during the 1890s, and was viewed by critics as the group's philosophical leader until Matisse was recognized as such in 1904. Moreau's broad-mindedness, originality and affirmation of the expressive potency of pure color was inspirational for his students.Dempsey, Amy (2002). ''Styles, Schools and Movements: An Encyclopedic Guide to Modern Art'', pp. 66–69, London: Thames & Hudson Ltd. Matisse said of him, "He did not set us on the right roads, but off the roads. He disturbed our complacency." This source of empathy was taken away with Moreau's death in 1898, but the artists discovered other catalysts for their development. In 1896, Matisse, then an unknown art student, visited the artist John Russell on the island of Belle Île off the coast of

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

."Book talk: The Unknown Matisse..."
, ABC Radio National, interview with Hilary Spurling, 8 June 2005. Retrieved 1 January 2008. Russell was an Impressionist painter; Matisse had never previously seen an Impressionist work directly, and was so shocked at the style that he left after ten days, saying, "I couldn't stand it any more." The next year he returned as Russell's student and abandoned his earth-colored palette for bright Impressionist colors, later stating, "Russell was my teacher, and Russell explained color theory to me." Russell had been a close friend of

Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade, he created approximately 2,100 artworks ...

and gave Matisse a Van Gogh drawing. Matisse-Luxe

In 1901, Maurice de Vlaminck encountered the work of Van Gogh for the first time at an exhibition, declaring soon after that he loved Van Gogh more than his own father; he started to work by squeezing paint directly onto the canvas from the tube. In parallel with the artists' discovery of contemporary avant-garde art came an appreciation of pre-

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

French art, which was shown in a 1904 exhibition, ''French Primitives''. Another aesthetic influence was African sculpture, of which Vlaminck, Derain and Matisse were early collectors. Many of the Fauve characteristics first cohered in Matisse's painting, '' Luxe, Calme et Volupté'' ("Luxury, Calm and Pleasure"), which he painted in the summer of 1904, while he was in

Saint-Tropez Saint-Tropez ( , ; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Var (department), Var departments of France, department and the regions of France, region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Southern France. It is west of Nice and east of Marseille, o ...

with Paul Signac and Henri-Edmond Cross.

Salon d’Automne 1905

After viewing the boldly colored canvases of

, André Derain,

, Maurice de Vlaminck, Kees van Dongen, Charles Camoin, Robert Deborne and Jean Puy at the Salon d'Automne of 1905, the critic Louis Vauxcelles disparaged the painters as "" (wild beasts), thus giving their movement the name by which it became known, ''Fauvism''. The artists shared their first exhibition at the 1905 Salon d’Automne. The group gained their name after Vauxcelles described their show of work with the phrase "" ("

Donatello Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi ( – 13 December 1466), known mononymously as Donatello (; ), was an Italian Renaissance sculpture, Italian sculptor of the Renaissance period. Born in Republic of Florence, Florence, he studied classical sc ...

among the wild beasts"), contrasting their "orgy of pure tones" with a

-style sculpture by Albert Marque that shared the room with them.Louis Vauxcelles, ''Le Salon d’Automne'', Gil Blas, 17 October 1905. Screen 5 and 6. Gallica, Bibliothèque nationale de France
, Chilver, Ian (Ed.)
"Fauvism"
, The Oxford Dictionary of Art, Oxford University Press, 2004. Retrieved from enotes.com, 26 December 2007.

Henri Rousseau Henri Julien Félix Rousseau (; 21 May 1844 – 2 September 1910)
at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, Gug ...

was not a Fauve, but his large jungle scene '' The Hungry Lion Throws Itself on the Antelope'' was exhibited near Matisse's work and may have had an influence on the pejorative used. Vauxcelles' comment was printed on 17 October 1905 in '' Gil Blas'', a daily newspaper, and passed into popular usage. The pictures gained considerable condemnation—"A pot of paint has been flung in the face of the public", wrote the critic

Camille Mauclair Séverin Faust (December 29, 1872, Paris – April 23, 1945), better known by his pseudonym Camille Mauclair (), was a French poet, novelist, biographer, travel writer, and art critic. Background Mauclair was a great admirer of Stéphane Mallarm� ...

(1872–1945)—but also some favorable attention. The painting that was singled out for attacks was Matisse's '' Woman with a Hat''; this work's purchase by Gertrude and Leo Stein had a very positive effect on Matisse, who was suffering demoralization from the bad reception of his work. Matisse's Neo-Impressionist landscape, '' Luxe, Calme et Volupté'', had already been exhibited at the

Salon des Indépendants Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room A drawing room is a room in a house where visitors may be entertained, and an alternative name for a living room. The name i ...

in the spring of 1905.Salon d’automne; Société du Salon d’automne
Catalogue des ouvrages de peinture, sculpture, dessin, gravure, architecture et art décoratif. Exposés au Grand Palais des Champs-Élysées, 1905

Salon des Indépendants 1906

Following the Salon d'Automne of 1905, which marked the beginning of Fauvism, the Salon des Indépendants of 1906 marked the first time all the Fauves would exhibit together. The centerpiece of the exhibition was Matisse's monumental (The Joy of Life). Critics were horrified by its flatness, bright colors, eclectic style and mixed technique.Russell T. Clement, ''Les Fauves: A Sourcebook'', Greenwood Publishing Group, 1994
The triangular composition is closely related to

's '' Bathers,'' a series that would soon become a source of inspiration for Picasso's '' Les Demoiselles d'Avignon''. The elected members of the hanging committee included Matisse, Signac and Metzinger.Daniel Robbins, ''Jean Metzinger: At the Center of Cubism'', 1985, Jean Metzinger in Retrospect, The University of Iowa Museum of Art, J. Paul Getty Trust, University of Washington Press, pp. 9-23

Salon d'Automne 1906

The third group exhibition of the Fauves occurred at the Salon d'Automne of 1906, held from 6 October to 15 November. Metzinger exhibited his Fauvist/Divisionist ''Portrait of M. Robert Delaunay'' (no. 1191) and

Robert Delaunay Robert Delaunay (; 12 April 1885 – 25 October 1941) was a French artist of the School of Paris movement; who, with his wife Sonia Delaunay and others, co-founded the Orphism (art), Orphism art movement, noted for its use of strong colours and g ...

exhibited his painting (no. 420 of the catalogue).Salon d'automne; Société du Salon d'automne
Catalogue des ouvrages de peinture, sculpture, dessin, gravure, architecture et art décoratif. Exposés au Grand Palais des Champs-Élysées, 1906 Matisse exhibited his , two still lifes ( and ), flowers and a landscape (no. 1171–1175). Robert Antoine Pinchon showed his ( Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray, près de Rouen) (no. 1367), now at the painted in Fauvist style, with golden yellows, incandescent blues, thick impasto and larger brushstrokes. Paul Cézanne, who died during the show on 22 October, was represented by ten works. His works included (no. 323), (no. 235) and (no. 326). Van Dongen showed three works, (492), (493) and (494). André Derain exhibited 8 works, (438), (444) along with 5 works painted at

l'Estaque L'Estaque (; ) is a village in southern France, just west of Marseille. Administratively, it belongs to the commune in France, commune of Marseille. Overview Many artists of the Impressionism, Impressionist and Post-Impressionism, Post-Impression ...

. Camoin entered 5 works, Dufy 7, Friesz 4, Manguin 6, Marquet 8, Puy 10, Valtat 10, and Vlaminck was represented by 7 works.

Gallery

File:Henri Matisse, 1902, Notre-Dame, une fin d'après-midi, oil on paper mounted on canvas, 72.4 x 54.6 cm, Albright-Knox Art Gallery.jpg,

, '' Notre-Dame at the end of the Afternoon,'' 1902, Albright-Knox Art Gallery,

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

File:Self-portrait in studio by André Derain.jpg, André Derain, ''

Self-portrait Self-portraits are Portrait painting, portraits artists make of themselves. Although self-portraits have been made since the earliest times, the practice of self-portraiture only gaining momentum in the Early Renaissance in the mid-15th century ...

in the Studio'', 1903, National Gallery of Australia,

Canberra, Australia Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city, and the eighth-largest Australian city b ...

File:Robert Antoine Pinchon, 1904, Triel sur Seine, le pont du chemin de fer, 46 x 55 cm.jpg, Robert Antoine Pinchon, 1904, , 46 × 55 cm File:Matissetoits.gif,

, , 1905, oil on canvas, The Hermitage, St. Petersburg, Russia File:Matisse-Open-Window.jpg,

, '' Open Window, Collioure'', 1905, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. File:André Derain, 1905, Le séchage des voiles (The Drying Sails), oil on canvas, 82 x 101 cm, Pushkin Museum, Moscow. Exhibited at the 1905 Salon d'Automne.jpg, André Derain, 1905, (''The Drying Sails''), 1905,

Pushkin Museum The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts (, abbreviated as , ''GMII'') is the largest museum of European art in Moscow. It is located in Volkhonka street, just opposite the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. The International musical festival Sviatos ...

, Moscow File:Maurice de Vlaminck, 1905-06, Barges on the Seine (Bateaux sur la Seine), oil on canvas, 81 x 100 cm, Pushkin Museum, Moscow.jpg, Maurice de Vlaminck, 1905–06, ''Barges on the Seine'' (), oil on canvas, 81 × 100 cm,

, Moscow File:Georges Braque, 1906, L'Olivier près de l'Estaque (The Olive tree near l'Estaque).jpg,

, 1906, (''The Olive tree near l'Estaque''). At least four versions of this scene were painted by Braque, one of which was stolen from the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris during the month of May 2010."Interpol issues global alert for stolen art"
, CNN Wire Staff, May 21, 2010 File:André Derain, 1906, La jetée à L'Estaque, oil on canvas, 38 x 46 cm.jpg, André Derain, , 1906, oil on canvas, 38 × 46 cm File:Matisse - Green Line.jpeg,

, ''Portrait of Madame Matisse'' (''The Green Stripe'') 1906, , Copenhagen, Denmark File:SeineChatou.JPG, Maurice de Vlaminck, ''The River Seine at Chatou,'' 1906,

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

File:Dongen-Hat.jpg, Kees van Dongen, ''Woman with Large Hat'', 1906 File:Henri Matisse Self-Portrait in a Striped T-shirt (1906).jpg,

, 1906, '' Self-Portrait in a Striped T-shirt'', Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen, Denmark File:Henri Manguin, 1906, Baigneuse (Woman Bather), oil on canvas, Pushkin Museum, Moscow.jpg, Henri Manguin, 1906, (''Woman Bather''), oil on canvas,

, Moscow File:Matisse Souvenir de Biskra.jpg,

, 1907, '' Blue Nude (Souvenir of Biskra)'', Baltimore Museum of Art File:Jean Metzinger, 1907, Paysage coloré aux oiseaux aquatique, oil on canvas, 74 x 99 cm, Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris.jpg,

, 1907, , oil on canvas, 74 × 99 cm, Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris File:Othon Friesz, 1907, Paysage à La Ciotat, oil on canvas, 59.9 x 72.9 cm.jpg, Othon Friesz, 1907, , oil on canvas, 59.9 × 72.9 cm

Notes and references

External links

Fauve Painting from the Permanent Collection at the National Gallery of Art

''Fauvism: The Wild Beasts of Early Twentieth Century Art''

* ttp://www.architecturalrecord.com/articles/11445-the-wild-men-of-paris Gelett Burgess, "The Wild Men of Paris: Matisse, Picasso and Les Fauves", ''Architectural Record'', 1910 {{Authority control 20th-century art movements Art movements French art Western art Henri Matisse André Derain