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Period and Style Report: Fauvism
What is Fauvism?

Fauvism is a style of painting in which artists used brilliant, intense colors, simplified lines, and overstated perspectives. They believed color had an emotional force which individual Fauvists used for different reasons. Originality and impulsiveness were preferred over the actual finished product. This movement had a somewhat brief span from 1901-1906 and consisted of no specific philosophies. By 1907, the artists involved in this movement began to give way to other modern movements.
Originating in Paris, three exhibitions were held there displaying this style. Les Fauves, the French word for wild beasts, were a group of modern artists that emphasized these qualities within their art. It is believed that art critic Louis Vauxcelles gave the group the name “Les Fauves.” Consequentially, they gladly adhered to the name that had originally been given to them as an insult.
The movement’s motivational teacher Gustave Moreau, who was also a professor at an influential fine arts school in Paris, taught his students to imagine and think outside the boundaries of traditional art and to pursue their own inner visualizations. Among his students were Henri Matisse and Andre Derain, who were leaders of this movement in art history.
Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, the Nabis, and the neoimpressionists were the most significant influences on Fauvism. Vincent van Gogh once stated, “Instead of trying to render what I see before me, I use color in a completely arbitrary way to express myself powerfully''. The Fauvists took this concept further, interpreting their feelings with color that some may call somewhat of a coarse and awkward approach.

Fauvist artists

In the midst of the Fauvist movement you can find the art of its founder Henri Matisse. Artists such as Andre Derain, Maurice de Vlaminck, and Georges Braque among many others were also...