Fauvism

The Wild Beasts

• The Salon d’Automne in Paris (1905) • Term “fauves” (wild beasts) first used by art critic • Most wanted pleasant or subdued scenes for wall art • Found paint application unpleasant A New Century

• Experimentation in all areas • New art styles evolved rapidly • Continued pressure to be part of an artistic tradition

Paris, 1900 FAUVISM

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• Fauvism is a movement in French painting that revolutionized the concept of color in modern art.

• The fauves rejected the impressionist palette of soft, shimmering tones in favor of new style, full of violent color and bold distortions.

• Fauvism as a style began around 1900 and continued beyond 1910, the movement as such lasted only three years, 1905–1908, and had three exhibitions. • The leaders of the movement were Henri Matisse and André Derain.

A Movement (sort of)

• Originally based on a series of friendships • Never used term “fauve” themselves • Differing styles • Connected by common techniques and concepts

The Gypsy, Reclining 1906 Nude, 1906 (Matisse) (Vlaminck) Characteristics

• Exaggerated, vibrant color • Use of contrasting colors to create volume and structure • Broad brushstrokes • Moderately thick paint application Boats at Collioure Harbor, 1905 (Derain) The Idea Behind the Color

• Color as the subject (independent of natural appearance) • Art as vehicle for artist’s emotions • Not just piece of art, a journey • Painting autonomous creation • All pictorial elements realized with color • Not represent perceptual world, take viewer beyond reality

Fauvism’s Influence

• Made impression on artists, from many different countries, that were drawn to Paris during period of development • Liberated use of color for future movements • Freed painting from serving symbolic or narrative ends • Extended boundaries of representation • Techniques adopted and developed by German Expressionists Influences

Artists: - Gustave Moreau - Van Gogh - Cézanne - Seurat Movements: - Impressionism - Post-Impressionism Different Cultures: - African Sculpture

Henri Matisse – Self Portrait

Characteristics (cont.)

• Simplified drawing • Solid planes of color • A source of light • Subject matter: - portrait - still life - landscape - cityscape

Portrait of Madame Matisse/The Green Line, 1905 (Matisse) Henri Matisse (1869-1954)

• Studied law • Began painting at the age of twenty • Sculptor • Studied under Moreau • Focused on tradition (accepted styles) • Found moderate success Portrait of Matisse, 1905 (Derain)

La Desserte, 1896-97 (Matisse) Dinner Table - Henri Matisse A work highly traditional on the face of it, but one of his complicated and carefully constructed to that date.

This painting, although in tone revealed in its luminosity an interest in the impressionists, and in its abruptly titled table that crowds and contracts the space of the picture. Matisse as a Fauve

• The “chief fauve” • 1905: Matisse and Derain in Collioure • Preferred the female form (portraits and nudes) • Felt if he intensified the color, he must reduce amount of detail (shapes and form)

The Open Window, Collioure, 1905 (Matisse) Open Window – Henri Matisse

Open Window is the view of the garden with boats at the port, seen through the window.

The background is painted in the same peach as the interior, and is there by brought into relation with the rest of the picture.

The green foliage of the garden is framing the view from the window.

The same dots of foliage recur at the top of the window. Bathers – Henri Matisse

• In this work which went far along the path of abstraction is based on versions of the Bathers by Cezanne.

• The painting was the first major example of a type of figure-landscape composition. Woman with a Hat, 1905 (Matisse) Henri Matisse: Woman with a Hat

Woman with a Hat is an oil on canvas by Henri Matisse from 1905.

It is believed that the woman in the painting was Matisse's wife.

It was exhibited with the work of other artists, now known as "Fauves" at the 1905 Salon d'Automne.

Matisse’s Art After Fauvism

• Created simplified forms against flat planes of color • Experimented briefly with Cubism • More interest in sculpture • Collage

Blue Nude III, 1952 (Matisse) André Derain (1880-1954) • Born in Chatou, a favorite haunt of the Impressionists • Parents didn’t approve of painting as profession (chose engineering) • Met Matisse in 1899; Vlaminck in 1900 • Served in the military • Soon after, began studying

art Portrait of Derain, 1905 (Matisse)

Derain as a Fauvist

• Despite enthusiasm for color, still influenced by a more ordered/traditional concept of painting • Fauvist style showcased in series of London paintings, commissioned in 1906 • Went to extremes of Collioure, 1905 (Derain) intensity and anti- naturalism

London Bridge, 1906 (Derain) Derain’s Art After Fauvism

• Experimented with cubism • By the 1920s, style was increasingly Neoclassical • Destroyed many fauvist pieces; rarely dated paintings and changed the ones he did • Theatrical design Le Nez de Cleopatre, 1922. Written by Georges Gabory. • Book illustrations Maurice de Vlaminck (1876-1958)

• Served in the military • Was a competitive cyclist, musician, actor, and novelist • Self-taught artist • Liked to boast about his contempt for museums • Met Derain in 1900 (introduced to Matisse)

Portrait of Vlaminck, 1905 (Derain) Vlaminck as a Fauvist

• Impulsive style • Short, choppy brushstrokes • Like other Fauves, not all use of color was “pure” (example: The Red Trees) • Experimented with pointillism

Portrait of Derain, 1906 (Vlaminck) The Red Trees, 1908 (Vlaminck) Vlaminck Maurice de Vlaminck • Vlaminck's work exploded with bold new color and brushwork after he saw the paintings of Matisse and Derain.

• In his heavily textured brush paintings the color becomes generally tonal; the effect is of threatening skies over a road winding through a desolate countryside.

• The formula ultimately arrived at by vlaminck proved highly effective, skillfully presented, and charged with emotion. Vlaminck Still life - Vlaminck Vlaminck’s Art After Fauvism

• Influenced by showing of Cezanne’s work • Introduced darker shades into overall tone • Moved to the country to paint landscapes • Eventually moved away from Cezanne’s influence, to more Classical construction

Self-Portrait, 1910 (Vlaminck) Fauvism Draws to a Close

• Lost momentum by 1908 • Environment of experimentation also meant styles quickly developed, then were often quickly modified or abandoned • Nearly all of the Fauves branched out from Fauvism Paysage a Cassis, 1907 (Derain)

Georges Rouault

Georges Henri Rouault was a French Fauvist and Expressionist .His use of stark contrasts and emotionality is credited to the influence of Vincent van Gogh.

In 1907, Rouault commenced a series of paintings dedicated to courts, clowns and prostitutes.

These paintings are interpreted as moral and social criticism.

Jesus – Georges Rouault

Head of a Tragic Clown – Georges Rouault