Fauvism in painting: features of the new trend

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

The beginning of the 20th century was marked by the emergence of a new artistic movement in painting - fauvism. The first works in this style appeared in the last years of the 19th century. The name of the direction comes from the French word "fauve", which means "wild animal". But a more established version of the translation was the word "wild", which is associated with representatives of this movement. For the first time such a characteristic was used by the famous critic Louis Vauxcelles regarding the works of several young artists, whose paintings were presented at the 1905 Autumn Salon.

In addition to the paintings, the salon contained a statue made in the style of the Italian Renaissance. Seeing her surrounded by unusual works, the critic said that the figure is similar to Donatello among wild animals. And so it happened that the representatives of the new direction began to be called Fauvists.

Fauvism in painting

The creations of innovators made a splash among the visitors of the Salon, because they were radically different from existing styles. An extraordinary approach to art and a special view of the world excited society: against the backdrop of Fauvism, even impressionism began to seem rational and more familiar, traditional.

Fauvism in painting was different from other trends: artists working in this direction were not united by some common aesthetic program. Their canvases are, rather, a way to assert their subjective vision of the world, using the most simple outlines and forms for this. The deliberate sharpness of compositional solutions, the denial of linear perspective, the primitivization of the depicted - all this united such artists as Henri Matisse, Maurice Marino, Andre Derain, Georges Braque, Georges Rouault, Othon Frise, Albert Marquet and others.

Representatives of Fauvism in painting, although they adhered to similar principles in their work, differed in their worldview. André Derain was more rational; Henri Matisse - dreamy; Georges Rouault expressed images with particular tragedy and grotesqueness. Such contrasting differences were the reason that the Fauvists were united among themselves for a short time (the union broke up in 1908). Then their paths diverged, and each of the artists found himself in styles that were closer in spirit and perception, while changing the methods of work and creative principles.

Features of the new trend

The activity of the Fauvists, despite the short period of existence of the united group of its representatives, hadsignificant influence on the development of European painting. Mixing the most significant achievements of that time, borrowing certain techniques from different styles made this direction special and well recognizable. Fauvism in painting became a kind of crucible that mixed the techniques of Japanese color engraving, the methods of post-impressionists and even medieval artists. The goal of the Fauvists was to maximize the use of color, which was the litmus test of the mood of the creator. Most often, preference was given to bright tones, which played in contrast with natural colors, emphasizing and sharpening them. Thanks to this approach, the paintings were distinguished by tension and extraordinary expression.

Matisse and his vision of painting

For some artists who decided to embody a mixture of different styles in their work, the goal was Fauvism in painting. Matisse, one of the most prominent representatives of this movement, was not only its founder, but also a person who made a significant contribution to the development of the movement.

In particular, he was the first to resort to seemingly shocking methods: for example, Matisse considered it appropriate to depict a woman with a green nose if this gave the picture extravagance and piquancy. He claimed that he depicts not a woman, but a picture, so the color scheme can be whatever the artist wants to see it. Inspired by the works of prominent impressionists (particularly Van Gogh and Gauguin), Matisse created bright, juicy works in rich colors.

The original technique of the artist is especially clearly visible inpaintings "View of Collioure", "Lady in a Hat".

In them, he sought to emphasize the fundamental principles of the new trend, namely, to express the feelings caused by what he saw, but not tied to the color scheme of the environment, but embodied on the canvas with those shades that are close in spirit to the creator. This is how Matisse saw Fauvism in painting. The paintings of the famous avant-garde artist were criticized more than once, one of them - "Blue Nude" - was even burned at the International Exhibition of Modern Art in 1913, held in Chicago.

The influence of Fauvism on European painting

Fauvism in the painting of European artists played a huge role in the further development of fine arts, giving impetus to the expression on canvas in the original manner of the artist's feelings, their vision of the world around them. Humanity has once again expanded the horizons of the worldview thanks to the innovation of the Fauvists.