Essay, Research Paper: Fauvism

The brief fauvist movement in art started circa 1896 when a group of neo-impressionist painters, led by Henri Matisse, stared to experiment with the utilization of what Matisse called, "The pure brilliance of color." This beautiful form of painting got it's name at the reputable "Salon D'Automme" art show in Paris, France in 1905. This name given by a popular critic, who in opinion of the painting's wild colors and odd effect dubbed them coincidentally, like "Fauves," in French meaning "wild beasts." But this still was not the official beginning of the school, for the name never caught on until years later.
In this paper I will compare and contrast three prominent Fauves, by the names of: Henri Matisse, Georges Braque, Andre Derain, differentiating their respective differences and similarities in their works; analyzing color, and detail, and how each comes into play in the fine masterpieces which these men have donated with their talents to the world.
GEORGES BRAQUE, (1882-1663)- He served military service for only one year, then returned to his love of art in the art university in Paris, called the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. A year later he painted the canvas which is here, the 1907 work, Landscape at La Ciotat. (See plate 1.) If one notices the semi-pointillist manner in which Braque uses to bring out the flowing sense of the shore, also the bright pastel colors in which the composition owns, They would think it to be reminiscent of Henri Matisse's Fauve opuses. Braque did two paintings of this scene, the other one he called the plain, "The Harbor at La Ciotat." Yet this work preserves the flavor as still being an impressionist idea, as well as retaining it's landscape value. It is a real accomplishment as being a fauvist period success. In some spots it is somewhat like Andre Derain in dark/light values, and in richness of the strokes. Overall, most of his work shows yellows and reds, and the blues and greens that calm them. He leaves these words of the Fauvist years: "For me Fauvism was a momentary adventure in which I became involved with when I was young….I was freed from the studios, only twenty four, and full of enthusiasm. I moved toward what for me represented novelty and joy, toward Fauvism."
ANDRE DERAIN, (1880-1954)- Entering the art scene in 1905, Derain made a huge impact on the Fauvist landscape part of the school in his work. He did a cornucopia of different paintings from London, England, to the stretches of France's borders. Derain, was in the least to say a pointillist painter. He used dabs of color in his canvases to simulate movement, and to sometimes create various colors without even mixing paint. The painting I have chosen to represent the pointillist and diverse ways that Derain paints is called, "Big Ben," done in 1906. (See plate 2.) One of the first things that struck me as I first looked at this landscape was the overall oddness of the lighting and the color choice to depict this "daytime" scene. The darkness of the blue does not seem like it belongs right by the sun, but it proves for a nice effect of a calm sky in the artwork. I like how the light splashes down on the water of the Thames river right over the boat gliding gently through her water. In its entirety, this piece is a very flowing description of Big Ben, and reminds me of the time I looked over the same water and saw the Parliament in all it's glory when I was in London, just like Andre Derain, almost ninety years ago. His work holds a strong parallelism to Matisse's Fauve period art, in style and composition. In juxtaposition, he and Matisse were extremely good friends, who shared ideas and techniques. They painted together in France for a few summers, during the end of the Fauvist movement. Early in his career he was in full swing of the pop art of then called, neo-impressionism, but then he was a contributor to what was the decline of Fauvism, the use of more earthy tones and geometric function. The whole direction of fauvism did soon turn with the use of the earth tones and hard lines, and was claimed to be what contributed to the start of Cubism.
HENRI MATISSE, (1869-1954)- The father of Fauvism, his early paintings started the whole idea of the school with their vibrance, and glow. After appendicitis, Henri's law career came to an end, for he had discovered painting. He then attended basic art classes and shot off onto a career so complete and fabulous, it could only be compared to the great Pablo Picasso in volume both in works, and value. Yet also, Matisse was a respectable sculptor too, as you see in the photocopy I have enclosed. Done in 1901, her name is "Madeleine," rough, and scathed; typical of Henri's style. The sculpture is made of bronze, Matisse's only medium that he would work with. (See plate 3). Moving along in his career from mostly realist to impressionist, he comes upon the "his" Fauvist period circa 1905. He spent the summer painting with Andre Derain, and it started the whole hubbub about the "wild beast's" paintings with their maddening color. But basically, what Matisse said he was trying to achieve with his work was to convey his responses to the scenes with his choice of paint color in which he used to stroke the great works onto the canvases with. It is left up to the viewer to interpret the effect, and that is what art is all about. The esthetically pleasing, comprehensive, exhaustingly interesting work of pure art that has been around since the dawn of modern man.
The most interesting thing about Matisse, in relation to the topic of this paper was the fact that he combines the styles of Georges Braque and Andre Derain in the work that he did over the Fauve period. A great example of Matisse's similarity to Derain's style is in the painting called, "The Roofs of Collioure," done in the autumn of 1905 alongside Derain himself. (See plate 4). When I first took a look at this I got the sense of a beautiful scene, the glow of the sun against the Spanish tile, the cool sea breeze, and the happiness emitted by the luminescence of the colors. This strong connection to Derain's work makes me think somewhat that Derain almost stole a little of Matisse's ideas and style, all starting with the summer painting together in France in 1905. Later in the same period of the Fauvist era, Matisse's oil works started to look a bit more like Georges Braque's very unique ways. To show this I will choose his canvas called "Pastoral." (See plate 5). As you can notice, he applies the usage of outline, on the bodies and the hills, this is representative of Braque's style. Also, there are a few gaps of white, that you can notice if you take a good holistic gander at the work; this, on a much smaller scale is also a parallel.
In retrospect of the Fauvist period, I saw that the artists had touched upon the essence of the world of colors around us, and the ways in which we see things, all put onto canvas stroke, after stroke.