FAUVISM  (1905-1910)
Fauvism is the style of Les Fauves (French for "the wild beasts").  Its style emphasized vivid and unnatural (“crude”) colors over the softer and naturalistic colors of Impressionistic art.  Fauvism has its roots in the post-impressionist paintings of Paul Gauguin. It was his use of symbolic color that pushed art towards the style of Fauvism.
The leaders of Fauvism were Henri Matisse and André Derain.  Other artists include Albert Marquet, Charles Camoin, Louis Valtat, Henri Evenepoel, Maurice Marinot, Jean Puy, Maurice de Vlaminck, Henri Manguin, Raoul Dufy, Othon Friesz, Georges Rouault, Jean Metzinger, Kees van Dongen and Georges Braque.

HENRI MATISSE  (1869-1954)
“Women with a Hat” (Femme au Chapeau, 1905)
Oil on Canvas  (San Francisco Museum of Modern Art)
First exhibited at the 1905 Salon d'Automne in Paris, ‘Femme au Chapeau’ became the center of the controversy that launched the first modern art movement of the twentieth century — Fauvism ("wild beast").  Matisse’s use of non-naturalistic colors and loose brushwork led to a sketchy or “unfinished” look – a quality that shocked Parisian viewers of the day.  It was so controversial it wasn’t shown for four years.

“The Joy of Life”  (Le Bonheur de Vivre, 1906
Oil on Canvas  (Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia, PA)

“Blue Nude” (Souvenir de Biskra, 1907)
Oil on Canvas  (Baltimore Museum of Art, MA)
“Blue Nude” was so was controversial in its time that it was burned in effigy in 1913 at the Armory Show in Chicago. The painting had a strong effect on Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso, partially motivating Picasso to create Les Demoiselles d'Avignon.

“The Dance”  (La Danse, 1909)
Oil on Canvas  (Museum of Modern Art, New York City)
Matisse's fascination with primitive art is shown with his use of the warm colors of the figures against the cool blue-green background and the rhythmical succession of the dancing nudes.  Feelings of emotional liberation and physical hedonism led Matisse to say that ‘The Dance’ was an "the overpowering climax of luminosity".

 
 
ANDRE DERAIN  (1880-1954)
“The Drying Sails”  (Le Sechage des Voiles, 1905)
Oil on Canvas (Puskin Museum, Moscow)

“Charing Cross Bridge”  (1906)
Oil on Canvas  (Musee d’Orsay, Paris)

MAURICE de VALMINCK  (1876-1958)
“The River Seine at Chatou”  (1906)
Oil on Canvas (Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection)

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