FAUVISIMO: most important artists and works

The fauvism It is one of the great artistic movements of the modern art of the 20th century. One of the artistic avant-gardes that was inspired by the work of Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, Georges Seurat and Paul Cézanne. The fauves, a French word that translates as "wild beasts"They were a group of painters among whom were Henri Matisse, Albert Marquet and Georges Rouault and to those joined by his admiration for the symbolist Gustave Moreau and the emphasis or expressive intensity of his work.

Matisse became the leader of the group, presenting as basic artistic elements the use of color in an intense, even violent way, to capture the artist's emotions, being also precursors of cubism and expressionism for its tendency towards abstraction.

In this lesson from unPROFESOR.com we offer you a vision of the Fauvism: most representative artists and works.

Index

1. Main characteristics of Fauvism
2. Henri Matisse, one of the most prominent Fauvism artists
3. Maurice de Vlaminck (1876-1958)
4. André Derain (1880-1954)
5. Raoul Dufy (1877-1953)
6. Georges Rouault (1871-1958)

1. Arbitrary color application and allowing it to exist on the canvas as a separate element. Color can project a mood and establish structure within the work without being faithful to the natural world.
2. Search for general equilibrium in the composition using simplified shapes and saturated colors offering a strong and unified visual impression.
3. Fauvism value individual expressionThus, the emotional response and intuition of the artist outweighs academic theory.
4. Use of the filling technique or apply the color directly from the tube onto the canvas and spreading the color stain.

Between the most outstanding and representative artists and works of Fauvism Figures such as Henri Matisse, André Derain, Maurice de Vlaminck, Raoul Dufy, Georges Rouault and Albert Marquet, among others, stand out.

Henri Matisse (1869 -1954) is one of the great colorists of the 20th century, going from being a post-impressionist to the leader of the Fauve movement. Still lifes, nudes and North African landscapes and scenes abound in his works.

Luxury, calm and voluptuousness (1904)

One of the earliest works of his fauve of him is Luxury, calm and voluptuousness (1904). In this work the influences of Seurat's pointillism and Paul Signac's divisionism are clearly seen, although the concentrations of pure color are already clear. Thus, oranges, yellows, greens, and other colors maintain their place in the plane without ever merging. The work is inspired by a poem by Baudelaire entitled L'Invitation au Voyage (Invitation to a Voyage).

Along with this work stands out Woman with hat, and is one of the most iconic of Fauvism, and is a portrait of his wife Amelie, painted in 1905, and exhibited in the Salon d'Automne during the fall of that year, along with works by André Derain, Maurice de Vlaminck and other artists "Fauves". In this work Matisse maintains the pose and the conventional dress, but applying the color arbitrarily and roughly, without responding to reality and showing passion and feeling.

Maurice de Vlaminck (1876-1958) he is another of the most important artists of Fauvism. A French painter, designer and writer who was part of Fauvism, being together with André Derain and Henri Matisse one of the great colorists for his bright and expressive colors and the representations of him little conventional. Among his works stands out:

The river Seine at Chatou (1906)

Vlaminck offers us a scene in which he shows the Seine passing through Chatou, a suburb of Paris where he shared a studio with Derain. For this work he used the filling technique, widely used by the Fauvists, and which consisted of applying thick spots of color directly from the tube to brush later and create the effect of movement.

The perspective and details disappear, taking up all the color. Thus, we can appreciate a range of greens and blues, white reflections, using the red and orange of the trees as a contrast.

André Derain (1880-1954) is a French painter, writer, designer, illustrator and sculptor, playing a pivotal role in the development of Fauvism and earlier Cubism at the hands of Pablo Picasso and George Braque.

Although there are critics who question his full ascription to the movement for experimenting with different artistic movements, his use of color expressively and vibrantly, his simplification of form and his fascination with primitive art give him a place within the fauve group.

Pinède à Cassis (1907)

This is one of the most important works of Fauvism. Derain stated that he used "color as a means to express my emotion and not as a transcription of nature ". In this painting, Derain uses long, isolated brushstrokes, influenced by Divisionist painting, to structure the trees and soil of his landscape. The colors are not very representative, even being unnatural.

Thus, the trunks of the trees are almost green and the landscape is suggested by numerous yellow and orange spots. A vibrant brushstroke and color contrasts take us back to a summer day.

Raoul Dufy (1877-1953) He is a French painter, printer and textile designer who stands out for the enormous optimism that he poured into each of his paintings. Fauvism helped him to free color and line, presenting a unique style called shorthand in which they combine contours with areas of vivid color.

Yacht in Le Havre decorated with flags

Influenced by Claude Monet and Eugene Boudin, Dufy painted numerous scenes in Le Havre, a port city on the northwestern coast of France. In this view of the port, Dufy rejects the traditional perspective and applies color in an unconventional way.

Georges Rouault (1871-1958) he is another of the most important artists of Fauvism. He is a French painter who, although he joined the great artists of the Parisian avant-garde, ended up being a somewhat lonely figure. Thus, he was part of the Fauvists with whom he exhibited at the famous 1905 exhibition at the Salon d'Automne.

However, his work also had elements of Expressionism, a movement that did not find much support outside of Scandinavia and Germany. The colors, especially the deep blues, and the outlines with thick black lines, reminds us of the stained glass windows, with religious themes also recurring and, above all, clowns, prostitutes and landscapes mystics.

In the circus (The crazy clown)

Although he also applies the filling and dense brushwork of other Fauvists, Rouault brings a more somber approach with darker colors and showing human suffering. Like Édouard Manet and Honoré Daumier and Pablo Picasso, Rouault chose the theme of the circus artist. His clowns and acrobats, always portrayed off stage, show the pain and loneliness behind their colorful makeup.

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• Elderfield, John. 1993. Of Fauvism. Editorial Alliance
• VVAA. 1997. Fauvism. Polygraph
• VVAA. 2000. From symbolism to Fauvism. Salvat Editores.