The name given to short-lived phase in the modern art movement. At the 1905 Salon d'Automne in Paris several young artists, led by Henri Matisse, offered the first collective expression of this new influence. Full, vivid colour to the point of violence, the pictures compelled attention and provoked scandalised protests. In the same gallery a small bronze in the Italian renaissance manner prompted Louise Vauxcelles, the critic, to describe it as "a Donatello among the wild beasts" (chez les fauves) - from which the epithet fauvism was coined.
Typical of the fauvist manner was an exultant handling of brilliant pigment. Imitative colour was rejected. Colour instead of light and shade, was used to illuminate the picture surface; and colour shapes were related, rather than contained, by flowing lines. Each separate element was exploited to intensify the expressiveness of the whole. At first paint was applied in a pointillist style, later in areas of flat decorative colour. The main influences which still permeated the movement were the acutely personal vision of van Gogh, the rich bold designs of Gauguin and the prevailing taste of Oriental and primitive art.
Fauvism evolved no creed and proposed no programme. It sprang up among a group of burning enthusiasts, all of whom endorsed similar aesthetic theories and technical innovations without submerging their individuality's.
Outstanding in the movement were Henri Matisse, Georges Braque, Charles Camoin, Andrés Derain, Kees van Dongen, Raoul Dufy, Othon Friesz, Henri Manguin, Albert Marquet, Jean Puy, Maurice de Vlaminck
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| Matisse - Jazz: Icarus, 1943 |
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| Braque - Two Birds on Blue Bottom, 1963 |
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| Charles Camoin, Bouquet of Flowers |
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| Andres Derain, Charin Cross Bridge, 1906 |
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| Kees van Dongen, Le Carrousel, 1963 |
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| Raoul Duffy, The Basin at Deauville |
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| Othon Friesz, Paysage da la Ciotat, 1907 |
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| Henri Manguin, Jeanne resting at Villa, 1905 |
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| Albert Marquet, Barques des Pecheur, 1906 |
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| Jean Puy, Un Fauve en Bretagne, 1906 |
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| Maurice de Vlaminck, Les Pecheurs a Nanterre, 1906 |
Plenty of inspiration, interest and artists to research here. I have discovered that my specific interest in Modern Art falls in the period 1945-1960 but it is interesting to see where those artists get their inspiration from.
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