1. Introduction to Vlaminck, Derain,
Fauvism Review/
Introduction to Vlaminck, Derain,
and Other Figures

2. Influences on Fauvism:
Paul Cezanne - Matisse had bought his Three Bathers (1899); he had called him ‘the master of us all’. His influence included:
painting as the subject
each for given equal weight
bare canvas allowed to show
colours of shadows are as strong as colours in light areas
distant colours as strong as foreground ones
flattening of pictorial space

3. Influences on Fauvism:
Paul Signac - A disciple of Seurat, Signac and became friends and painted in St. Tropez together. His influence includes:
Pointillism and giving pigments the same luminosity; unmixed colours being used
used technique to give the spectator experience of optical vibration
harmonious colour more than complementary colour

4. Influences on Fauvism:
Vincent Van Gogh - said of his art, “I use colour in a completely arbitrary way in order to express myself powerfully”. Very influential on Vlaminck. His influences included:
impasto brushwork
brushwork to follow the forms being painted
strong use of complementary colours
use of black and dark blue to create outlines
subjective use of colour

5. Influences on Fauvism:
Paul Gauguin - Matisse first saw his work at the Salon d’Automne in 1904 and again in Collioure in His influences included:
flattened space
paint is laid with broad brushstrokes in flat areas
use of heavy black outlines
exotic, arcadian subject matter
larger figure groupings
subjective use of colour

6. Paul Gauguin. Joyeuseté (Arearea). 1892.
Paul Cézanne. Three Bathers. c
Vincent van Gogh. Painter’s bedroom 1889
Paul Signac. Woman Taking up Her Hair. 1892

7. The Influence of Nietzsche
The German philosopher was active between the 1870s to 1890s before suffering a mental breakdown. He is famous for concepts such as:
the struggle between Dionysian and Apollonian principals
the idea of the ubermensche or superman
the concept that “God is dead”
In his works Thus Spake Zarathustra and The Will to Power he wrote about the role of the artist as a prophet, that they could show ordinary people how to be extraordinary.
Nietzsche is quoted as saying:
“An artist chooses his subjects… that is the way he praises.”

8. Fauvism and Primitive Art
The primitive world, eg. Africa and Polynesia, had a huge impact on artists like Gauguin and the Fauves because of the effects that the Industrial Revolution had on Europe --> the exploitation of nature
Primitive art and cultures had a closeness and harmony with nature that was missing in Europe, especially for its subjective and expressive form and it’s lack of concern with anatomical correctness
African masks were collected and passed around by the artists in Paris (Vlaminck, Derain, Matisse, and Picasso). They were strongly affected by the strong, alien form --> characteristics began showing rhrough in their art
Matisse said of modern art,
“Modern art is an art of invention; its starting point is an outburst of feeling. So by its very essence it is closer to the archaic arts than it is to Renaissance art.”

9. Henri Matisse. Blue Nude. (Souvenir de Biskra). 1907.

10. Blue Nude Painted after a brief visit to Northern Africa in 1906
Matisse was taken with the sculpture that the he saw the African artists doing because of the freedom they showed and the invention of new forms rather than copying existing ones.
This painting is blend of European traditionalism (ie. reclining nude) with the form of tribal sculpture.
Not concerned with creating the idealised female form, nor correctness of proportion, he emphasises the bulkiness of the form by placing the hip at the centre of the painting and leading the eye back, from the thigh, to the fern frond that copies the same shape as the hip.

11. Andre Derain La Danse 1906

12. La Danse
The group of figures performing a primitive dance in a jungle is one of many that he did.
Symbolic of the freedom of the primitive people he captures, it is also indicative of Bacchic dance models from ancient Greece.
The scene is composted similar to an Egyptian frieze (and similar to Gauguin’s later works).
Unnatural, warm colours used to create their own sense of movement, reinforced by the spiralling left hand dancer which are echoed in the vegetation and snake.
Suggestion that this has a Christian meaning behind it, ie. the Fall of Man and the theme of good vs. evil (symbols such as the fruit tree and serpent)
It might also be acting as a link with nature that he imagined in exotic parts of the world --> arcadia

13. André Derain ( )
In 1900, he met and shared a studio with Vlaminck in Chatou and began to paint his first landscapes.
One of the first to discover African art, to feel the zest of popular imagery and the richness of folklore, to admire the beauty of the primitives.
Painted with Matisse in Collioureand exhibited with his at the Salon d’Automne in He was also friends with Braques and Picasso at this time.
In his canvases there is no harsh, carelessness which indicates violence of instinct. His work tends to be harmonies of proportions and tones, carefully composed.
He employed the segmented touch, the swift curve, and garish colours.

14. Andre Derain, Collioure, 1905, Oil on canvas.

15. Andre Derain, The Pool of London, 1906, Oil on canvas.

16. Andre Derain, Charing Cross Bridge, London (1906), Oil on canvas.

17. Claude Monet, The Houses of Parliament, 1903.
Charing Cross Bridge, London and The Pool of London
1906 he was commissioned dealer Ambroise Vollard to paint views of London in the Fauvist-style, like Monet had done previously. Unlike Monet, who was focused on light and atmosphere, Derain was concerned with the liveliness of the Thames as a commercial waterway.
He combines aspects of Gauguin’s use of flat planes of colour and Cezanne’s tilted use of perspective.
Claude Monet, The Houses of Parliament, 1903.

18. Andre Derain, Trees, L’Estaque, 1906.

19. Andre Derain, The bend in the road, L’Estaque, 1906, Oil on canvas.

20. Trees, L’Estaque and The bend in the road, L’Estaque
Done after his return from London, these works show the influence of Gauguin, again with the large, flat area of colour.
The figures are reduced to almost child-like sketches, showing a focus on the painting itself as a method for harmony of colour rather than a representation of the world.
There is a certain lack of perspective and the colours flatten the space. Only relative sclae indicate depth.
Japanese influences can be seen in the high viewpoint and balanced composition.
‘White pockets’ of air which separated the blocks of fierce colour of previous year eradicated.

21. Maurice De Vlaminck (1876-1958)
He was a professional cyclist until his athletic career was cut short when he contracted Typhoid fever in 1896.
Eventually, he joined the military. While on military leave, he met André Derain as they were from near the same hometown of Chatou in the north of France.
Vlaminck had little art training, and only began to paint seriously after collaborating with Derain. He even boasted his lack of training and rejected academic-style art.
His artistic style was strongly influenced by Vincent Van Gogh after seeing an exhibit in He said that he loved Van Gogh more than his own father.
His work is the most raw of the Fauves, some think partially due to his lack of training and due to his rather large, muscular physique.

22. Vlaminck, Restaurant de la Machine at Bougival, 1905

23. Vlaminck, Landscape, the bois mort, 1905-06, Oil on Canvas.

24. Landscape, the bois mort
Marked by bold, non-naturalistic colours and seemingly chaotic compositions.
Exquisite example of Vlaminck’s early style of Fauvism because of the vibrant colours, two-dimensional flat surface, and the creative view of a landscape.
Subject Matter- This is one of Vlaminck's many landscape works. In this particular painting there are trees and bushes with a building or house in the background.
From his thick hands came topsy-turvy forms and frenzied colours, the canvas teeming with kinks, thrusts, and twists of paint that looks freshly squeezed from tubes rather than applied by the brush.

25. Vincent van Gogh, The Iris, 1889, Oil on canvas.

26. Maurice de Vlaminck, Landscape with Red Trees, 1906, oil on canvas.

27. Landscape with Red Trees
This is an example of Vlaminck’s use of paint straight from the tube, ie. the application of thick, impasto paint
The colours are not mixed together, which lends to the vibrancy of the work.
Like Van Gogh, broad brushstrokes define the shape of the objects of the still life (eg. the trees, the houses, the road), yet the canvas underneath has been allowed to show through.
Unlike Matisse and Derain, Vlaminck’s work is very rough and raw. His work never really became as refined and methodical as the other Fauves.
Vlaminck said of his art that painting was a “way of being”.
In 1906 Vlaminck was fortunate to have his entire studio’s work bought be art collector Vollard, which not only allowed him focus solely on his art without concern of finance, but it lifted his spirit and allowed him to have his most fruitful summer and create stunningly vibrant art.

28. Other proponents of Fauvism: (all French)
George Braque
Raoul Dufy
Henri Manguin
Albert Marquet

29. George Braque, Landscape at L'Estaque, 1906.

30. On the 4th of July at Le Havre 1906
Raoul Dufy
On the 4th of July at Le Havre 1906
Jeanne dans les fleurs, 1907

31. Jeanne Resting at Villa Demiere 1905
Henri Manguin
The Prints 1905
Jeanne Resting at Villa Demiere 1905

32. Albert Marquet
Fishing Boats 1906
The Fair at Le Havre 1906

33. Kees Van Dongen
Woman in Green Tights 1905
Woman in a Green Hat 1907

34. What happened to Fauvism and who did it influence?
Many Fauve artists ended up following the path of Picasso and the Cubists and some become more Expressionistic.
WWI happens, some of the artists go off to fight in the war.
Between some artists from Germany came to see what was happening in Paris. These artists included Ernst Kirchner, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, Wassily Kandinsky (the artists who eventually formed the Die Brucke and Der Blaue Reiter respectively).
Matisse, in essence, stays the only ‘pure’ Fauvist, staying true the Fauve principals.

35. Matisse. Pink Nude

36. Like Picasso and Synthetic Cubism, Matisse, too weak to stand at an easel in his old age, created papercuts, carving in colored paper, scissoring out shapes, and collaging them into sometimes vast pictures.
Matisse. Blue Nude IV