"Despite its having been the subject of several books, Fauvism remains a little known artistic movement. The author demonstrates that Fauvism constitutes a specific pictorial system for the expression of reality - a system that can be clearly defined not by any preliminary doctrine, but by dynamic action. He also explains how these paintings are not merely the result of a technique of expression using pure colors, but rather a lyrical translation of the artist's relationship to the universe - a new type of spatial awareness."--BOOK JACKET.
Even though public and critical reaction to the first exhibited fauvist works was one of hostility and astonishment, fauvist paintings are today among the most loved of all twentieth-century art. Here are the artists--their works, relationships, achievements, affinities, and critics. 170 illustrations.
"Excited handling of pure colors and drastic simplification of line: such was Fauvism, the first art revolution of the twentieth century ... This comprehensive study illustrates the work of some twenty artists, French, German, Dutch and Russian, and fills in the essential background of pre-Fauvism going back to Monet, Gaugain and Van Gogh."--Back cover.
Born at the dawn of the 20th century, Fauvism burst onto the artistic scene at the 1905 Salon d'Automne with great controversy by throwing bright, vibrant colours in the face of artistic convention. Fuelled by change, artists like Matisse, Derain, and Vlaminck searched for a new chromatic language by using colour out of its habitual context. Freed from the strict technique advocated by the École des Beaux-Arts, they used blocky colours as their main resource, saturating their stunning paintings. The author invites us to experience this vivid artistic evolution that, although encompassing a short amount of time, left its mark on the path to modernity.
With unprecedented and unrestricted access to his family correspondence, and other new material in private archives, Spurling documents a lifetime of desperation and self-doubt exacerbated by Matisse's attempts to counteract the violence of the 20th century in paintings.
An engaging and informative guide to all the significant "isms"—schools and movements—that have shaped modern and contemporary art from Impressionism to the present. Following on the heels of the bestselling Isms: Understanding Modern Art comes this handy small-format guide to the history and development of modern art since the Impressionist era. Loaded with reproductions of key artworks and rounded out with a glossary and index of names, this guide is the best single-volume concise introduction to modern art for beginners, as well as an engaging new way of conceptualizing modern art for aficionados and collectors. ...isms: Understanding Modern Art sorts art into a chronological sequence of more than 55 movements and schools, or "isms." Beginning with Impressionism, Neo-Impressionism, and Symbolism, it progresses through all the major and minor art movements of the twentieth century (Fauvism, German Expressionism, Futurism, Dadaism, and Social Realism among others) through the postwar era up to the present. Featuring 110 beautiful full-color reproductions of key artworks illustrating the important concepts of each artistic movement, ...isms: Understanding Modern Art is like a virtual gallery of the finest modern masters. Included are a glossary, a list of principal names (artists, collectors, patrons), a gazetteer, and a chronology, making this the best single-volume guide to modern art for beginners while also offering cognoscenti an intriguing new way of conceptualizing the visual arts of the modern era.
This is the first comprehensive scholarly bibliography/research guide/sourcebook on the major French Fauve painters (Henri Matisse and Georges Braque are treated in separate Greenwood bio-bibliographies). It includes information on 3,120 books and articles as well as chronologies, biographical sketches, and exhibition lists. Each artist receives a primary and secondary bibliography with many annotated entries. Secondary bibliographies include details about each artists' life and career, relationships with other artists, work in various media, iconography, and more. Designed for art historians, art students, museum and gallery curators, and art lovers alike, this volume organizes the vast literature surrounding this fascinating, revolutionary, 20th-century art group. Genuinely new art is always challenging, sometimes even shocking to those unprepared for it. In 1905, the paintings of Matisse, Derain, Vlaminck and their friends shocked conservative museum-goers; hence, the eventual popularity of art critic Louis Vauxcelles's tag les fauves, or wild beasts by which these artists became known. Although it lasted only three or four years, Fauvism is recognized as the first artistic revolution of international consequence in the 20th century. It was based on the glorification of pure saturated colors and the free expression of primitivism. It was a dynamic sensualism; an equilibrium of passion and order, fire and austerity that could not last. By the end of 1908, Fauvism collapsed in the face of Cubism, which, moreover, several Fauve artists helped to form.
