Fauvism ( / f oʊ v ɪ z əm / FOH -viz-əm ) is a type of painting and an art movement that began in France at the start of the 20th century. It was the style of a group of artists called les Fauves (French pronunciation: [le fov], meaning "the wild beasts"). These artists focused on how paint was applied and used bold colors instead of realistic details, which was different from the Impressionist style. Fauvism as a style started around 1904 and continued past 1910, but the movement itself lasted only from 1905 to 1908. During this time, the group held three exhibitions. The main artists leading the movement were André Derain and Henri Matisse.

Artists and style

Other artists who were part of the Fauvist movement included Robert Deborne, Albert Marquet, Charles Camoin, Bela Czobel, Louis Valtat, Jean Puy, Maurice de Vlaminck, Henri Manguin, Raoul Dufy, Othon Friesz, Adolphe Wansart, Georges Rouault, Jean Metzinger, Kees van Dongen, Émilie Charmy, and Georges Braque, who later worked with Picasso in developing Cubism.

The paintings of the Fauves were known for their bold, bright colors and loose, energetic brush strokes. The subjects in their artwork were often simplified and made to look more abstract. Fauvism grew from Van Gogh’s Post-Impressionism and the pointillist techniques used by Seurat and other Neo-Impressionist artists, especially Paul Signac. Paul Cézanne and Paul Gauguin also influenced Fauvist artists. Gauguin’s use of vivid, intense colors in his paintings, such as those from Tahiti, inspired Derain’s work in Collioure in 1905. In 1888, Gauguin told Paul Sérusier, “How do you see these trees? They are yellow. So, paint them yellow. This shadow is blue—use pure ultramarine. These red leaves? Paint them vermilion.” Fauvism shares similarities with Expressionism, as both movements used bright colors and free, uncontrolled brushwork. Some Fauvist artists were among the first to collect and study African and Oceanic art, along with other non-Western and folk art traditions, which helped lead some artists toward the development of Cubism.

Origins

Gustave Moreau was a key teacher in the art movement. He was a professor at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and a Symbolist painter. During the 1890s, he taught artists such as Matisse, Marquet, Manguin, Rouault, and Camoin. Critics considered him the group's leader until Matisse gained recognition in 1904. Moreau encouraged his students to explore creativity and the power of color. Matisse once said, "He did not set us on the right roads, but off the roads. He disturbed our complacency." After Moreau's death in 1898, the artists found other influences to help them grow.

In 1896, Matisse, who was still an unknown student, visited the artist John Russell on the island of Belle Île near Brittany. Russell was an Impressionist painter. Matisse had never seen Impressionist art before and was so surprised by 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 changed his use of colors from dull tones to bright Impressionist shades. He later said, "Russell was my teacher, and Russell explained color theory to me." Russell had been a friend of Vincent van Gogh and gave Matisse a drawing by van Gogh.

In 1901, Maurice de Vlaminck saw van Gogh's work for the first time at an exhibition. He soon said he loved van Gogh more than his own father. Vlaminck began painting by directly applying paint from the tube onto the canvas. At the same time, artists studied both modern avant-garde art and older French art from before the Renaissance, which was displayed in a 1904 exhibition called French Primitives. Another influence was African sculpture, which Vlaminck, Derain, and Matisse collected early in their careers.

Many features of the Fauve style first appeared in Matisse's painting Luxe, Calme et Volupté ("Luxury, Calm and Pleasure"), which he created in 1904 while staying in Saint-Tropez with Paul Signac and Henri-Edmond Cross.

Unlike Cézanne and Degas, who were influenced by the experience of traveling by train, the Fauves were shaped by the new way of seeing the world while driving a car. Matisse painted landscapes in 1917 and 1925 from the driver's seat. Derain often replaced his Bugatti cars, and Vlaminck owned a sports car. In his 1929 book Dangerous Corner, Vlaminck described the visual experience of driving at a speed of 110 kilometers per hour.

Salon d'Automne 1905

In 1905, the critic Louis Vauxcelles saw the brightly colored paintings of artists such as Henri Matisse, André Derain, Albert Marquet, Maurice de Vlaminck, Kees van Dongen, Charles Camoin, Robert Deborne, and Jean Puy at the Salon d'Automne. He called them "fauves," which means "wild beasts" in French. This term became the name of their art movement, Fauvism. These artists first showed their work together at the 1905 Salon d'Automne. Vauxcelles gave the movement its name after he wrote, "Donatello chez les fauves" ("Donatello among the wild beasts"), comparing their use of bright, pure colors to a Renaissance-style sculpture by Albert Marquet displayed nearby.

Henri Rousseau was not a Fauve, but his painting The Hungry Lion Throws Itself on the Antelope was shown near Matisse's work and may have influenced Vauxcelles' comment. Vauxcelles' remark appeared in the newspaper Gil Blas on October 17, 1905, and became widely used. Many people criticized the Fauvist paintings, with one critic writing, "A pot of paint has been flung in the face of the public." However, some viewers gave positive attention to the work. Matisse's painting Woman with a Hat was especially criticized, but its purchase by Gertrude and Leo Stein helped Matisse feel more confident after receiving negative feedback. Earlier that year, Matisse had shown his Neo-Impressionist painting Luxe, Calme et Volupté at the Salon des Indépendants.

Salon des Indépendants 1906

After the Salon d'Automne of 1905, which began the Fauvism art movement, the Salon des Indépendants of 1906 was the first event where all Fauvist artists displayed their work together. The most important piece at the exhibition was Matisse's large painting, Le Bonheur de Vivre (The Joy of Life). Critics were shocked by its flat appearance, vivid colors, mixed styles, and varied techniques. The painting's triangular shape is similar to Paul Cézanne's Bathers, a series that later influenced Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon.

The members chosen to hang the artwork included Matisse, Signac, and Metzinger.

Salon d'Automne 1906

The third group exhibition of the Fauves took place at the Salon d'Automne in 1906, from October 6 to November 15. Metzinger displayed his Fauvist/Divisionist painting titled Portrait of M. Robert Delaunay (number 1191), and Robert Delaunay showed his painting L'homme à la tulipe (Portrait of M. Jean Metzinger) (number 420 in the exhibition catalog). Matisse presented his painting Liseuse, two still lifes (Tapis rouge and à la statuette), flowers, and a landscape (numbers 1171–1175). Robert Antoine Pinchon exhibited his painting Prairies inondées (Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray, près de Rouen) (number 1367), now at the Musée de Louviers, painted in a Fauvist style with golden yellow, bright blue, thick paint, and large brushstrokes.

Paul Cézanne, who died during the exhibition on October 22, was represented by ten works, including Maison dans les arbres (number 323), Portrait de Femme (number 235), and Le Chemin tournant (number 326). Van Dongen displayed three works: Montmartre (number 492), Mademoiselle Léda (number 493), and Parisienne (number 494). André Derain showed eight works, including Westminster-Londres (number 438), Arbres dans un chemin creux (number 444), and five paintings created at l'Estaque. Camoin entered five works, Dufy seven, Friesz four, Manguin six, Marquet eight, Puy ten, Valtat ten, and Vlaminck seven works.

Gallery

• Henri Matisse, Notre-Dame at the end of the Afternoon, 1902, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York
• André Derain, Self-portrait in the Studio, 1903, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Australia
• Robert Antoine Pinchon, 1904, Triel sur Seine, le pont du chemin de fer, 46 × 55 cm
• Henri Matisse, Les toits de Collioure, 1905, oil on canvas, The Hermitage, St. Petersburg, Russia
• Henri Matisse, Open Window, Collioure, 1905, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
• André Derain, 1905, Le séchage des voiles (The Drying Sails), Pushkin Museum, Moscow
• Maurice de Vlaminck, 1905–06, Barges on the Seine (Bateaux sur la Seine), oil on canvas, 81 × 100 cm, Pushkin Museum, Moscow
• Georges Braque, 1906, L'Olivier près de l'Estaque (The Olive Tree near l'Estaque). At least four versions of this scene were painted by Braque. One of these was stolen from the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris during the month of May 2010.
• André Derain, La jetée à L'Estaque, 1906, oil on canvas, 38 × 46 cm
• Henri Matisse, Portrait of Madame Matisse (The Green Stripe), 1906, Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen, Denmark
• Maurice de Vlaminck, The River Seine at Chatou, 1906, Metropolitan Museum of Art
• Kees van Dongen, Woman with Large Hat, 1906
• Henri Matisse, 1906, Self-Portrait in a Striped T-shirt, Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen, Denmark
• Henri Manguin, 1906, Baigneuse (Woman Bather), oil on canvas, Pushkin Museum, Moscow
• Henri Matisse, 1907, Blue Nude (Souvenir of Biskra), Baltimore Museum of Art
• Jean Metzinger, 1907, Paysage coloré aux oiseaux aquatiques, oil on canvas, 74 × 99 cm, Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris
• Othon Friesz, 1907, Paysage à La Ciotat, oil on canvas, 59.9 × 72.9 cm