6 most outstanding WORKS of FAUVISM

The fauvism it's a French pictorial movement which, although brief, had a great impact due to its intensity and disruptive nature. Thus, Fauvism developed between 1904 and 1908, characterized by an arbitrary use of color, opting for aggressive and strident color ranges. An attitude that earned him the qualification of "fauves" or wild beasts. In the Autumn Salon 1905 made their first exhibition, ending up being accepted by the public and critics without those initial derogatory connotations.

In this lesson from a TEACHER we offer you a selection of the most outstanding works of Fauvism so you can recognize and admire the basic characteristics of this fantastic and groundbreaking art style.

Index

1. Characteristics and main representatives of Fauvism
2. List of the most important Fauvism artists
3. Light, Peace and Pleasure (1904) by Henri Matisse
4. Woman with a Hat (1905), Henri Matisse
5. The River Seine at Chatou (1906), Maurice de Vlaminck
6. Pinède à Cassis (1907), André Derain
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7. The Joy of Living (1906), Henri Matisse
8. Yacht in Le Havre decorated with flags (1905), Raoul Dufy

Before starting to talk about the most representative works of Fauvism, it is important that we know what is fauvism and that we indicate the characteristics of fauvism most prominent of this artistic trend of the avant-garde.

1. Fauvism is a spontaneous movement in which each painter carried out his work in a personal and individual way, lacking a unique manifesto.
2. The main common point of him is the rejection of conventions and all kinds of established rules and methods.
3. They are a reaction movement against Impressionism.
4. The Colour it becomes the way to show the artist's state of mind. A) Yes, separate the color from its descriptive purpose and it becomes an independent element.
5. Looking for a balance in composition, offering a unique look.
6. The ultimate goal is show the emotions and feelings of the painter before the world around him, leaving everything more to intuition than to technique.

But to get to know the works of Fauvism better, there is nothing more representative than to go directly to the works of art and to the artists in charge of cultivating this artistic trend. For this reason, among the most prominent artists of this movement are

• Henri Matisse
• André Derain
• Maurice de Vlaminick
• Henri Manguin
• Albert Marquet
• Jean puy
• Emile Otto Friesz
• George Braque
• Raoul dufy

To know in detail the works of Fauvism, we are going to analyze one of the works of the fauve movement most important: Light, Peace and Pleasure by Henri Matisse.

This work is considered the starting point of Fauvism, a kind of declaration of intent. Matisse shows a scene of a sunset on the beach, a typical subject of Impressionism, but he does not try to be true to reality and use color arbitrarily, going out of tradition and fleeing from proportion and perspective. It is not about being realistic and looking for beauty, but about being spontaneous and expressing the emotional.

In this work the influence of pointillism by George Seurat and the divisiveness by Paul Signac by using small strokes of color. However, Matisse neglects the typical chromatic harmony of these authors to offer pure colors without fusion. The work is inspired by a poem by Charles Baudelaire, L'Invitation au Voyage.

This painting by Matisse is also part of this selection of representative works of Fauvism. A work exhibited at the Autumn Salon in 1905 and in which it caused controversy, constituting the first appearance of the Fauve movement.

Critics rejected the arbitrariness of the color, the look of an unfinished work and the type of brushstroke. A portrait that does not try to be true to reality and that it was not well received by critics or the public, although it was acquired by the Stein family, the famous art collectors.

We continue to know the works of Fauvism to talk about it now. Vlaminck is inspired by a landscape along the Seine in Chatou, a suburb of Paris where he and Derain had shared a studio since 1901.

This work stands out for using one of the techniques used by many Fauvists, the filling. A technique that consists of the direct application of paint from the tube and in the form of large spots. These spots were then brushed off with a few short strokes in order to generate the sensation of movement.

The blue, green, red and orange colors create a very vivid and striking contrast, offering the whole a feeling of joy, movement and brightness.

We continue to know the characteristics of Fauvism through the most representative works. On Pinède à Cassis, Derain employs a use of color as a way of express emotions. In this painting, Derain used sparse and elongated brushstrokes, typical of divisionism, to structure the scene and distribute trees and other elements in the landscape.

The colors are unnatural with vibrant greens, oranges and yellows that create a huge contrast, but still manage to suggest the resplendent heat of the Mediterranean summer. Derain also flees from perspective and chiaroscuro.

The joy of living is one of Matisse's best known Fauvist works and one of the representative works of Fauvism, especially for being the answer that the painter offered to the criticisms received in the Autumn Salon of 1905.

Matisse recreates a idyllic scene with several women dancing or resting naked in a kind of paradise. Cheerful figures located in a pastoral environment that the painter creates with curved and sinuous lines, as well as using non-natural and complementary colors to create visual contrasts. A scene that, without the effect of depth or light, offers a sensual and enigmatic atmosphere.

Dufy, influenced by Monet and Boudin, made several paintings of Le Havre, a port on the northwestern coast of France, but without using the traditional perspective nor apply paint in a conventional way.

The lines are abrupt, destabilizing the composition, using quick brushstrokes for the waves, small blocks of color for the buildings, and short strokes for pedestrians. A seemingly sloppy brushwork and that allows the painter to offer details such as the flags on the mast.

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• Elderfield, J (1993), Fauvism, Editorial Alliance
• VVAA (1997), Fauvism, Polygraph