FAUVISM

Presented by:
Beatrice Eirene Agas

Source: https://www.thecollector.com/fauvism-2/

JAN2023
What is Fauvism?
Fauvism is the name applied to the work
produced by a group of artists (which
included Henri Matisse and André Derain) from
around 1905 to 1910, which is characterised by
strong colours and fierce brushwork. (Davis,
2020)

The term 'Fauvism' translates to mean 'wild-

beasts' and was coined by critic Louis
Vauxcelles following the 1905 Salon d'Autumne
exhibition. The exhibition, which was held in
Paris, caused widespread outrage. (Martin, n. d.)

Source: https://www.sfmoma.org /artwork/91.161/

The River Siene at Chatou by Maurice de Vlaminck (1906)

F A U V I S M: presented by Beatrice Eirene Agas (JAN2023)

How did Fauvism come to be?
Fauvism was the first of the avant-garde movements that
flourished in France in the early years of the twentieth
century. The Fauve painters were the first to break
with Impressionism as well as with older, traditional methods
of perception. Their spontaneous, often subjective response
to nature was expressed in bold, undisguised brushstrokes
and high-keyed, vibrant colors directly from the tube.
(Rewald, 2004)

Henri Matisse (1869–1954) and André Derain (1880–1954)

introduced unnaturalistic color and vivid brushstrokes into
their paintings in the summer of 1905, working together in
the small fishing port of Collioure on the Mediterranean
coast. When their pictures were exhibited later that year at
the Salon d’Automne in Paris (Matisse, The Woman with a
Hat, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art), they inspired
the witty critic Louis Vauxcelles to call them fauves (“wild
beasts”) in his review for the magazine Gil Blas. This term Source: https://www.sfmoma.org/artwork/91.161/

was later applied to the artists themselves. Femme au chapeau (Woman with a
Hat) by Henri Matisse (1905)
F A U V I S M: presented by Beatrice Eirene Agas (JAN2023)
 The People’s Criticism towards Fauvism
People started thinking that this Fauvist painting was the
end of French painting. They had qualms about its overall
composition, from the thickness of the strokes used for the
tree branches, to the figures drawn along the canvas.

As stated by Paul Signac, “Matisse, whose attempts I have

Source: https://www.henrimatisse.org /joy-of-life.jsp
Le Bonheur de Vivre (Joy of Life) by Henri
Matisse (1906)
liked up to now, seems to me to have gone to the dogs.
Upon a canvas of two-and-a-half meters, he has
surrounded some strange characters with a line as thick
as your thumb. Then he has covered the whole thing with
flat, well-defined tints, which—however pure—seem
disgusting.” But the painting was well received by others,
like Pablo Picasso, wanting to outdo Matisse in terms of
artwork shock value, started on a work that is now called
the Les Demoiselles d'Avignon.

As for me, all fauvist works remind me of a distorted dreamscape, a land of vibrant fantasy. It symbolizes the
people breaking out of the norm to create something new, to be something new.

F A U V I S M: presented by Beatrice Eirene Agas (JAN2023)

 Notable Fauvism Works

Source: http://www.famousartistsgallery.com/large/derain-pn.html

The Houses of Parliament by André Derain (1906)

Source: http://www.famousartistsgallery.com/large/derain-pn.html

Houses behind Trees by Georges Braque (1906)

F A U V I S M: presented by Beatrice Eirene Agas (JAN2023)

References:
Davis, Charlotte. (2020, May 30). Fauvism Art & Artists: Here are 13 Iconic Paintings. Retrieved from
https://www.thecollector.com/fauvism-2/

Martin, Tatty. (n.d.), What is Fauvism?. Retrieved from https://www.riseart.com/guide/2410/what-is-fauvism

Rewald, Sabine. (2004, October). HEILBRUNN TIMELINE OF ART HISTORY: Fauvism. Department of Modern and
Contemporary Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved from
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/fauv/hd_fauv.htm

F A U V I S M: presented by Beatrice Eirene Agas