Introduction and Advanced Organizer

• Henri Matisse, The Green Line,

1905, oil on canvas, 40.5 x 32.5
cm (Statens Museum for Kunst,
Copenhagen)
• Henri Matisse, Woman with a
Hat, 1905, oil on canvas, 79.4 x
59.7 cm (San Francisco Museum
of Modern Art)
Luxe, calm et volupté (1904),
• In Luxe, calm et volupté (1904),
• for example, Matisse employed a
pointillist style by applying paint in
small dabs and dashes.
•  Instead of the subtle blending of
complimentary colors typical of
Neo-Impressionism Seurat, for
example, the combination of firey
oranges, yellows, greens and
purple is almost overpowering in
its vibrant impact.
Vlaminck’s The River Seine at Chantou (1906)
• the Fauves adopted a painterly
approach to enhance their work’s
emotional power, not to capture
fleeting effects of color, light or
atmosphere on their subjects.
• Their preference for landscapes,
carefree figures and lighthearted
subject matter reflects their desire
to create an art that would appeal
primarily to the viewers’ senses.
Henri Matisse, Bonheur de Vivre (Joy of Life), 1905-6, oil on canvas,
176.5 x 240.7 cm (Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia)
Learning Outcome :
At the end of the lesson, the students should be able to :

A. Define Fauvism.
B. Describe its characteristics.
C. Give examples of Fauvism art.
Definition of Fauvism

- a movement in painting typified by the work of Matisse and

- characterized by :
• vivid colors
• free treatment of form and
• a resulting vibrant and
• decorative effect.
Timeline of Fauvism
Fauvism - Artworks
• Started: 1899
• Ended: 1908
Literal Meaning of Fauve
Wild beast
How did the fauves get their name?

• The name les fauves ('the wild beasts') was coined by the critic Louis
Vauxcelles when he saw the work of Henri Matisse and André Derain
in an exhibition, the salon d'automne in Paris, in 1905.
• First formally exhibited in Paris in 1905, Fauvist paintings shocked
visitors to the annual Salon d'Automne; one of these visitors was the
critic Louis Vauxcelles, who, because of the violence of their works,
dubbed the painters fauves (“wild beasts”).
What are the 4 key characteristics of Fauvism?

Fauvism was known for

•  bold,
• vibrant,
• almost acidic colors used in unusual
juxtaposition, and
• an intuitive, highly gestural
application of paint.
The fauvists favored pairing
complementary colors, like purple and
yellow, magenta and green, or orange
and blue.
Who started Fauvism ?
• The leader of the group
was Henri Matisse, who had
arrived at the Fauve style after
experimenting with the various
Post-Impressionist approaches of
Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh,
and Georges Seurat.
Father of Fauvism
• Henri Matisse (1869-1954): Father of Fauvism
• One critic called the gallery exhibiting their intentionally
unsophisticated works a cage of wild “beasts,” fauves in French.
• The term “fauvism” was born, with Matisse its undisputed leader
• Matisse burst onto the French art in
the late 19th century as leader of the
Fauvist group — painters with a wild
use of colors that has no basis in
nature.
• This striking departure from the artistic
conventions of his day left an indelible
and colorful mark on art history.
• Fauvism is a way of painting which is
very expressive, and uses non-realistic
color schemes to depict natural
scenes.
Why is Matisse so famous?

• Henri Matisse is widely regarded as the greatest colorist of the 20th

century.
• The French artist used color as the foundation for his expressive,
decorative and large-scale paintings.
• He once wrote that he sought to create art that would be “a soothing,
calming influence on the mind, rather like a good armchair”.
What is the meaning of les fauves?

the wild beasts

• The name les fauves ('the wild beasts') was coined by the critic Louis
Vauxcelles when he saw the work of Henri Matisse and André Derain
in an exhibition, the salon d'automne in Paris, in 1905.
The best known Fauve Artists
• The best known Fauve artists
include
• Henri Matisse,
• André Derain, and
• Maurice Vlaminck who
pioneered its distinctive style.
Henri Matisse

• Henri Matisse (1869-1954):
Father of Fauvism
• One critic called the gallery
exhibiting their intentionally
unsophisticated works a cage of
wild “beasts,” fauves in French.
The term “fauvism” was born,
with Matisse its undisputed
leader.
André Derain was a French artist, painter, sculptor
and co-founder of Fauvism with Henri Matisse.
• André Derain's innovative
approach to landscape, form,
and color helped establish a
framework for Fauvism in the
early 20th century. Derain's
paintings ranged from traditional
still lifes to bright, off-kilter
urban landscapes with dappled 
Maurice de Vlaminck
• Maurice de Vlaminck was a
French painter.
• Along with André Derain and
Henri Matisse he is considered
one of the principal figures in
the Fauve movement, a group of
modern artists who from 1904
to 1908 were united in their use
of intense colour.
What colours are used in Fauvism?
• The fauvists favored pairing
complementary colors,
like purple and yellow, magenta
and green, or orange and blue.
Study for "Luxe, calme et volupté"
Henri Matisse
(French, 1869–1954)

• Matisse made this painting in the south of France, in

the town of Saint-Tropez, while vacationing with family
and friends.
• He created the forms in the painting—the human 
figures, tree, bush, sea, and sky—from spots of color
 applied with quick, firm, repeating brushstrokes with
which he built up the picture.
• Matisse favored discrete strokes of color that
emphasized the painted surface over the naturalistic
 portrayal of a scene.
• He also used a palette of pure, high-tone 
primary colors to render the landscape, and outlined
the figures in blue.
• The painting takes its title, which means “Richness,
calm, and pleasure,” from a line by the 19th-century
poet Charles Baudelaire, and it shares the poem’s 
subject: escape to an imaginary, tranquil refuge.
• Matisse, who was uninterested in conflict and politics, once said,
“What I dream of is an art of balance, of purity and serenity, devoid of
troubling or depressing subject matter.”
• The balance and serenity he strove for in this early painting would
remain consistent in his work for the rest of his career.
1910
• Fauvism was short lived, and by 1910, artists in the group had
diverged toward more individual interests. Nevertheless, Fauvism
remains signficant for it demonstrated modern art’s ability to evoke
intensely emotional reactions through radical visual form.
Learning Activities :

Define Fauvism
• Father of Fauvism
• Timeline of Fauvism
• Meaning of fauves
• What does Fauvism means in French ?
• Who coined the term Fauves ?
• Why did he used the term fauves?
• Best known Fauve artists
Reference
• https://www.google.com/search?
q=fauvism&rlz=1C1VDKB_enPH927PH927&oq=fauvism&aqs=chrome.
.69i57j69i59i450l3j0i271l2j69i60.2119j0j15&sourceid=chrome&ie=UT
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