JAN MOHAMMAD ALI: CHARACTERISTIC OF FAUVISM

CHARACTERISTIC OF FAUVISM

(Paris c.1905-7)

Characteristics of Fauvism

A late example of Post-Impressionist painting, Fauvism was the first real avant-garde art of the 20th century, although it had no agenda, no manifesto, no agreed set of aesthetics: just a wide group of friends with similar ideas about painting. Matisse, the eldest, became the leading figure of the group, not least because of his innovative painting Luxe, Calme et Volupte (1904). Its decorative composition and emancipated employment of colour made it (in the words of Raoul Dufy) "a miracle of imagination produced by drawing and colour." In fact the painting borrows heavily from the Neo-Impressionism of Paul Signac (1863-1935) and his predecessor Georges Seurat (1859-91), but it signalled the beginning of a more unrestrained use of colour. Matisse and Derain followed this up with a number of works (landscapes and portraits) painted in Collioure, a small town in the South of France, attracting other artists with their vivid palette (brighter and more direct than anything Pointillism had to offer), and their strong belief in the expressive power of pure colour to evoke emotional feeling

Famous Fauvist Paintings

Here is a short selected list of expressionist paintings by the most famous 20th century painters associated with the group:

Henri Matisse (1869-1954)
Luxe, Calme et Volupte (1904) Musee d'Orsay.
Landscape at Collioure (1905) Museum of Modern Art, New York.
The Roofs of Collioure (1905) oil on canvas, Hermitage, St. Petersburg, Russia.
Open Window, Collioure (1905) National Gallery of Art, Washington DC.
Woman with a Hat (1905) San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
Le Bonheur de Vivre (1905-6) Barnes Foundation, Merion, Pennsylvania.
The Gypsy (1906) Musee de l'Annonciade, St Tropez.
Blue Nude (1907) Baltimore Museum of Art.
Harmony in Red (The Dinner Table) (1908), Hermitage, St Petersburg.
Portrait of Mme Matisse (1913) Hermitage, St Petersburg.
Albert Marquet (1875-1947)
Andre Rouveyre (1904) Musee d'Orsay, Paris.
July 14, Le Havre (1906) Musee Albert Andre, Bagnols-sur-Ceze.
Le Pont Neuf (1906) National Gallery of Art, Washington DC.
View of the Seine (1906) Museum of New Western Art, Moscow.
Winter on the Seine (1910) National Gallery, Oslo.
Maurice de Vlaminck (1876-1958)
The White House (1905-6) Private Collection.
Champs de Ble and Restaurant at Bougival (1905-6) Musee d'Orsay, Paris.
The Blue House (1906) Minneapolis Institute of Arts.
Landscape with Red Trees (1906) Musee National d'Art Moderne, Paris.
The Wheat Field (Champs de Ble) (1906) Milwaukee Art Museum.
Tugboat at Chatou (1906) Private Collection.
The River Seine at Chatou (1906) Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
The Bridge at Chatou (1906) Musee de l'Annonciade, St Tropez.
Kees van Dongen (1877-1968)
Woman with Large Hat (1906) Private Collection.
Woman in a Black Hat (1908) Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg.
Le Coquelicot (The Corn Poppy) (1919) Toulouse-Lautrec Museum, Albi.
Charles Camoin (1879-1964)
La Petite Lina (1907) Le Musee Cantini, Marseille.
Othon Friesz (1879-1949)
The Seine at Paris, Pont de Grenelle (1901) Glasgow Museums.
Portrait of Fernand Fleuret (1907) National Museum of Modern Art, Paris.
Andre Derain (1880-1954)
The Harbour of Collioure (1905) Private Collection.
Portrait of Matisse (1905) Tate Modern, London.
The Pool Of London (1906) Tate Modern, London.
Charing Cross Bridge (1906) National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.
Bridge over the Thames (1906) Musee de l'Annonciade, St Tropez.
Georges Braque (1882-1963)
L'Estaque (1906) National Museum of Modern Art, Paris.