FAUVISM (c. 1900 - 1907)

by Jo Colley 06:21 0 comments

'Les Fauves', translated from French to mean "The Wild Beasts" was the title given to the turn of the 20th Century movement of artists that celebrated the beginnings of the avant-garde in France. Known for their painterly qualities; a spontaneous use of colour and brush stroke, artists such as Henri Matisse (1869-1954) and Andre Derain (1880-1954) became widely known for emphasising these techniques with a new and adventurous painting style.

The term "Les Fauves" was introduced after the Summer of 1905, in which Henri Matisse and Andre Derain has worked on paintings with unnatural tones and quick, spontaneous strokes of the brush in Collioure on the Meditteranean coastline, a place later made famous as the inspiration for the Fauves after exhibition at the Salon d'Automne in Paris. Despite being a relatively short lived art movement of the modern era with a very loose base of artists, it was one which was extremely influential on the avant-garde of the future.

The inspiration for the Fauves lies in many avenues of modern art; for example, impressionisms use of deep and vibrant colours contributed to the Fauves use of deep purples, reds and browns to create paintings saturated by colour as well as the Impressionist influence on representational values within these themes. Furthermore, elements were drawn from a number of styles including the rich use of colour and brush stroke shown by Vincent Van-Gogh, Cezanne and the Pointillist works of George Seurat as indicated in Maurice de Vlaminck's (1876-1958) painting Tugboat at the Chatou (1906) which creates it's landscapes by using choppy, broken and fragmented brushstrokes with Oil on Canvas.

"The Turning Road" by Andre Derain, L'Estaque, 1906.

The Turning Road, painted by Andre Derain in 1906 is a demonstration of the root characteristics of what Fauvism meant. The colours used are arguably the most striking concept within the painting - almost appearing to maintain a sense of primitivism with it's adherence of the avant-garde. Also, the type of brush stroke is evident an it's application of these colours, creating a texture by using scratch-like, fast and repetitive smatterings of deep coloured paints.

Paul Gauguin once described the fundamental theme of Fauvism to Paul Serusier in 1888, before the introduction of the movement itself, stating "How do you see these trees? They are yellow. So, put in yellow; this shadow, rather blue, paint it with pure ultramarine; these red leaves? Put in Vermillion." This shows an initial and outright attention to the prior mentioned representational value and the emphasis we put on the way we see light and colour - a very impressionist response to painting a landscape. However, the variances in these representations can be noted through a number of differently styled impressions of similar compositions in the same places such as the Gulf of St Tropez.

"Portrait of Madame Matisse. The Green Line"  painted using Oil on Canvas by Henri Matisse, 1905.

The image above, "Portrait of Madame Matisse. The Green Line" by Henri Matisse, depicting a portrait of his own wife, Amelie Noellie Matisse-Parayre is yet another similar example of how a use of deep colours is instrumental to a unique take on the representative values when painting from observation - with the Impressionist use of light and shadow, looking towards abstraction.

There is, however, a very personal connotation to the way these scenes are painted as identified by many artists ideas of their own works, for instance, during the Fauve Summer in Collioure in 1905, Matisse once wrote, "Working before a soul-stirring landscape, all I thought of was making my colours sing, without paying any heed to rules and regulation." This gives us a true insight into what Fauvism meant to these artists and why they would be described as "wild beasts", it was because their painting paid no mind to rules and allowed them to be free in their representation of any given theme, a new and unruly perspective on the French Summer.

"Victoria Embankment" in London, as painted by Andre Derain 1906-1907 at 81cm x 100cm using Oil in Canvas.

After a trip to London in the years of 1905 and 1906, Andre Derain produced a high quantity of sketches of iconic scenery in the city, specifically the image above of the The Victoria Embankment, he would then take these sketches back to his studio in Paris to be painted with the classic Fauvist ideals of colour and texture. While different colours; blue, yellow, brown and green dominate the image, this style has already become synonymous with various other works of Fauvist artists.

This seasonal and short lived art movement ended periodically alongside the ending of the Fauve Summer in Collioure as the artists once again parted ways on the 24th August 1905 with a large quantity of over 70 paintings and almost 200 drawings combined, but would return for several subsequent years in the future.