Fauvism Flashcards
Background to fauvism
First revolutionary movement of the 20th century
3 male French exhibited their work in the Salon d’Autumn. Viewers were shocked at the strong colours and.
It is not a coherent group with rules, but a short lived coming together of artists with the same approach to painting.
They avoided naturalism
What was the tree french men’s biggest contribution to modernism
The liberation of colour
Who were the three men
Matisse, Derain and Vlaminck
How did fauvism get its name and what other movement is it similar to
It got its name from a critic who said their work looked like it had been among wild beasts. The french word for beast is Fauves, which is where ‘fauvism’ came from. This is similar to the way Impressionism got their name.
Influences on fauvism
Vincent Van Gogh Paul Gauguin Georges Seurat Henri Rousseau Non-western cultures Synthetic colour
How did Van Gogh influence fauvism
Non-descriptive and emotive colour
Method of working
Importance of feeling the creative process
How did Gauguin influence fauvism
Belief that certain sensations and feelings can be conveyed by colour
A painter can use colour independently of natural appearances to express emotion
Large flat colour areas
Heavy outlines (colonialism)
Primitive character of shape
How did Seurat influence fauvism
His divisionism whereby pure colour was applied in small brushstrokes or dots mix optically in the viewer’s eye, was an influence on the broken brushstrokes of the fates at the beginning. They later revolted against these broken areas of colour.
How did Rousseau influence fauvism
His naive art and bright colours
How did non-western cultures influence fauvism
Africa and Polynesia influenced the fauvists with their non-representative and decorative qualities.
Brilliantly coloured textiles in Morocco and North Africa impressed Matisse
Colours and shapes of this type of art suggested that there were ways of making art other than traditional western art
How did synthetic colour influence fauvism
It was developed through technology and helped the fauvists to achieve their unusually bright colours.
What is naive art
A term used for artists with no formal training.
Who is an example of a naive artist
Henri Rousseau
What are the characteristics of naive art
Bright colours, but the approach is naturalistic with a loft of attention to detail. They pay little attention to perspective
Characteristics of fauvism.
The steered clear fo naturalistic portrayals because of their belief that a painting has its own reality and is not only s version of the visual world
Subject matter
Portrayed landscapes, figures, interiors and portraits. They worked from reality but displayed an emotional reaction to the subject
Colour
Chief characteristic of their work. It is stronger than that of any other art movement before them.
Colour is arbitrary, not naturalistic and often used to portray an emotion
Often pure and not mixed portray emotion
Vibrant and intense colours are often used in large flat areas of one colour
Bright clashing colours in foregrounds and backgrounds = bright
Form/shape
Suborbital to colour. Colour as used to express shape , light and depth
Forms are distorted and combined with often incorrect perspective
Deliberate clumsiness in emotional portrayals
Drawing is simplified and has a childlike quality
Shapes are often outlines
Very decorative
Application of paint
Energetic, quick brushstrokes
Every brushstroke carries an emotion
Paint was often unmixed and used directly from the tube. Technique changes between broken divisionism and pure flat areas
Who was the most important fauvist artist
Henri Matisse
Matisse: history
Was a lawyer then studies art under the teacher Moreau who encouraged him to follow his own direction and simplify his work. He was influenced by the colour theories of Seurat’s divisionism. He soon found this way of working too rigid and, under the influence of Gauguin’s large flat areas of intense colour, he began to paint those works.
Matisse: style
Paintings seem to be spontaneous, he actually worked very slowly and laboriously. He made continual small adjustments of colour and shape until he achieved the exact balance he wanted. His art reflects his life. His experience of living through both wars is not seen in his work.
Matisse: subject matter
Still life, interior of rooms (often with a window)and the female form.
What happened to Matisse’s art when he was confined to a wheelchair in old age
He creates a new form of art whereby he would cut out different pieces of brightly coloured paper and stuck them to a piece of paper to make vibrant semi-abstract works.
