Fauves - fauvism

DEFINITION

French word for "wild beast???, it was coined by critic Louis Vauxcelles in 1905 in Paris when he saw at the Salon D???Automne the first exhibitions of its exponents. Fauvists were a group of Post-Impressionist Parisian painters who were shocking in their flamboyant and sensuous use of color. Among them were Henri Matisse, Georges Rouault, Maurice de Vlaminck, Andre Derain , Georges Braque and Raoul Duffy. Fauvism as an art movement is not easily definable because the description came from outsiders and not from any association of artists who formally agreed upon style or objectives. Although interest in Fauvism was relatively short lived because of the introduction of Cubism and focus on form rather than color, the influence remains in the work of many artists whose expressionist works are driven by color rather than geometry. American artists reflecting the Fauves??? innovative use of color include Arthur Carles, Arthur Dove, Maurice Prendergast, Alfred Maurer, John Marin, Abraham Walkowitz and Max Weber. In 1908, Alfred Stieglitz introduced work by Matisse to New Yorkers at his Photo-Secession Gallery, and most of the Fauves from France exhibited there for several succeeding years. Many of them also exhibited at the 1913 Armory Show in New York. Sources: ???The Britannica Encyclopedia of American Art???; ???Phaidon Dictionary of American Art???; Hilton Kramer, (quotation) "The Turn of the Century", p. 137.