Fauvism
In
1905 an exhibition was held in Paris which included a
room full of paintings by Derain, Matisse and
Vlaminck, among others, that blazed with pure, highly
contrasting colours. One critic dubbed the creators
of these paintings 'les fauves' - French for 'wild
beasts' - and the name stuck. This 'wildness'
manifested itself mainly in the strong colours,
dynamic brushwork and expressive depth of their
pictures, which evoke a fantasti cal, joyous world of
heightened emotion and colour. Matisse is generally
considered to be the leader of this group, whose
pictures include colourful landscapes and portraits.
Representative
painters:
Derain, Van Dongen, Matisse, Vlaminck