I heart Fauvism

I think that Fauvism might be my very favorite art history movement. I love Abstract Expressionism, of course. But my heart belongs to Henri Matisse, Andre Derain and Raoul Dufy and their wildly colorful, brazen paintings. I have known for some time that I am deeply affected by pure, brilliant color. Even when painting something from a photograph, I tend to heighten the color saturation level of the resulting work as an unconscious act.

Charing Cross Bridge, London, 1906
Andre Derain

Take a look at this nifty cityscape... even an obviously industrial London scene can be beautiful in and of itself. Our surroundings, regardless of drear, have color. You can find it in a color photograph by upping the saturation and contrast levels to their furthest limit. Derain could see it and bring it to life.

Hommage a Debussy, 1952
Raoul Dufy

Can anyone see any similarities between Dufy's style and the 1960s DePatie-Freleng cartoon art? Maybe that's why I love Dufy's work so much... the style pervaded my formative years of television viewing.

La leçon de musique, 1917
Henri Matisse

See how pure the color is! Matisse was the master of color. His vision inspires me every time I look at his work.

Any-hoo, I just thought I'd share some Fauvism with you today. Enjoy!