Fauvism

Fauvism

Fauvism is the style of les fauves, a group of early 20th-century painters (including Matisse) who used vivid and non-naturalistic colours.

Fauvism was an art movement that emerged in the early 20th century, prioritising intense, vibrant colours and bold brushwork over realistic or representational characteristics. Henri Matisse and Andre Derain were key figures within this informal collective, and when their artworks were displayed in 1905 in Paris, critic Louis Vauxcelles mockingly labelled the pieces, marked by their expressive and non-naturalistic palette, as the creations of ‘fauves’ or ‘wild beasts’.


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Parra's studio, with Parra at the centre, his back to the camera as he works on the large painting takes centre stage, showing a faceless blue woman in a striped dress, painted in red, purple, blue and teal. The studio is full of brightly coloured paints, with a large window on the right and a patterned rug across the floor under the painting.