Fauvism (pronounced Fo–viz–um) is an art movement that started in France around the year 1900 and was popular until around 1910. Artists who painted in this style used very bright colours and wild brush strokes. Sometimes the colours were exaggerated. For example, if a woman had dark hair, the artist might have painted it a dark blue instead of black. Shadows were painted purple or green instead of the usual colours. When the first exhibition of paintings in this style was held in 1905 in Paris, critics were shocked and didn’t like it all. One critic called the artists fauves , which means “wild beasts” in French. That’s how the movement got its name.
Bold colours
French artist Henri Matisse (pronounced Awri Ma-teess) was one of the founders of Fauvism. Henri was born in Northern France to parents who had a grocery and grain shop. Henri studied to be a lawyer in Paris and started work as a law clerk. When he was 21 years old, Henri got sick with appendicitis. While he lay in bed getting better, his mother brought him a paint box and art supplies to give him something to do. Henri found that he loved painting and decided to become an artist!
Henri gave up law and went back to Paris to study art. This upset his father. Henri started each day by playing the violin for two hours because he thought it would exercise his fingers and help him paint better.
At first, Henri painted landscapes and still life. Then one of his friends showed him the work of Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin. Henri was struck by the bright use of colour in these paintings and he also began to use vivid colours. He wanted his paintings to be celebrations of colour and didn’t care whether the painting looked much like the real objects he was painting. He liked to put warm and cool colours next to each other for effect.
When he grew older, Matisse became very ill. He became too weak to paint and started to work with paper cut-outs to make collages. Matisse called this “painting with scissors”. The collages were usually large, simple and had beautiful colours. He published a book of these cut-outs called Jazz .
Even though critics did not like his style, rich art collectors from America bought his paintings. Some of his paintings have sold for up to 20 million dollars! Matisse’s famous works are “Woman with a Hat”, “The Red Studio”, “The Dinner Table”, and “Dance II”. He ultimately became the highest paid artist of his time. Henri Matisse died in 1954 at the age of 84.
To look closer at Matisse’s cut-outs and his studio, visit this website: www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/2014/matisse/in-the-studio.html
