Fauvism

&
Expressionism

Art as an expression of
inward feeling by means of
simple plasticity

Background
Intellectual violence :
Mysticism of Kierkegaard
Existentialism of Heidegger
Tortured social preoccupations Ibsen
Febrile anguish of Whitman.
Aggressive Dionysian myths Nietzsche.
This all created a climate of intellectual
violence, which intoxicated the young.

 Discoveries of Darwin reduced the status of

man in the scale of life, and emphasized his
relationship to other, declared him more as
instinctive creature.
The theories of Marx suggested that he was
the toy of history rather than master.
Freud suggested that our actions are not
motivated by those processes of conscious
thought on which we have placed reliance.
Most of the Expressionist were young when
war broke out, this event provided them the
anguish which they needed.

Characteristics
In fauvism & Expressionism feeling is given
grater prominence than thought.
Artists dose not use medium to describe
situations but to express emotion.
So the manipulation goes beyond the
accepted aesthetic conventions.
Artists may choose a subject which in itself
evokes strong feelings, like
Repulsion Death Anguish Torture
Suffering.

Fauvism(1906-1907)
Expressionism has always been regarded as
German Phenomenon
but its appearance
in modern painting is the result of a liberation
of colour and form which took place in France
in the short lived style Fauvism.(ended after
one year)
In 1906 a group of artists gathered round
Henri Matisse started painting in a style
which later came to be known as Fauvism.
Louis Vauxcelles(Art critic) described the
group as Fauves (wild beasts)in one
exhibition, initially he had passed remarks as
an unfriendly criticism.

Characteristics of Fauvism
These artists were more sophisticated and
intellectual.
They formed a group instead of working
alone.
They saw a new vision in the art
They used violent colours, which were non
realistic (displacement of colours)
Their draftsmanship was crude, through their
unusual colours and shapes Fauves
discovered new ways of expressing feeling.

The artists in Fauvism

Henri Matisse (Leader of the group)

Andre Derain
Maurice De Vlaminck
Georges Rouault

Henri Matisse

Self Portrait, 1906

The Green Stripe (Madame

Matisse), 1905, oil on
canvas, 40.5x32.8 cm.

The Joy of Life

1905-6, oil, 171.3x238cm.

The Red Room or Harmony in red or dinner table

1908,oil on canvas, 180x220 cm.

The Dance (La Danse)

1910, oil on canvas, 260x391cm.

The Pianista

Andre Derain

Portrait of Derain by Matisse

London Bridge

Portrait of Matisse, 1905,

oil on canvas,46x35 cm.

The Pool of London

1906,Oil, 66x99 cm.

Boats at Collaire

Maurice De Vlaminck

Les Bateaux- Lavoirs,

1906, oil,50x73 cm.

Portrait of Derain
1905, oil

Georges Rouault

Head of Christ, 1905,

The holy Face,

1933,oil,91x65 cm.

The old king,

1937, oil on cardboard,
77x54 cm.

Art comes from necessity

not from ability
- Arnold Schoenberg

Expressionism(1912)
Movement of revolt along with literature and
music, reached its climax with first world war.
Richard Reiche described Ex. as striving for a
simplification and enhancement of forms and
expression.
Ex. gives primary importance to the inner
world of the emotions, by contrast to
Impressionism.
In art the process of realization must proceed
from the internal to the external not from
external to internal. (Kandinsky characterized
20th C. as the Century of the internal as
opposed to the C. of external)

 Art aimed to express the soul, not the skill of

the artist. (Fechter wrote that art not only
derives from ability, but also depends upon a
certain spiritual disposition desire or
necessity.)
The composer Arnold Schoenberg said, which
became the slogan of Expressionism
Art comes from necessity not from ability.
As a result of this insistence upon the artists
inner vision, the distinction between art forms
became blurred.

 The artists, writers, composers, tended to

regard their differences between their
respective arts as only external, and therefore
unimportant.
Therefore artists started experimenting with
different medias. E.g. Kandinsky- painting,
graphics, poetry criticism and drama.
Shoenberg painted and composed.

Origin of Expressionism
Post-Impressionism, Fauvism, Edward Munch

Die Brucke (The Bridge)

Der Blaue Reiter (Blue Rider)

1905-1913

1911-1914

1 E.L. Kirchner

1 Wassily Kandinsky

2. K. Schmidt Rottluff

2. Franz Mark

3. Erich Heckel

3. Macke

4. F. Bleyl

4. Chmpendonk
5. Paul klee

Individual Artists
1 Beckman

4. Kokoschka

2. Ensor

5. Rouault

3. Nolde

6. Soutine

Expressionism
Edward Munch

The Scream, 1893

Puberty, 1895

Madonna, 1895-1902

The Dance, 1899-1900 oil, 125 X 190 cm.

The Bridge
Group

E.L.Kirchner

Semi nude woman

with hat, 1911

Figures on Stones, 1912-13

K. Schmidt- Rottluff

Lady with fruit dish, 1909

Five women in street,

1913

Summer, 1913

Erich Heckel

Brickworks, 1907

Nude on sofa, 1909

The Blue riders

Wissily Kandinsky

On the outskirts of the city,

1909

Landscape with Factory chimney, 1910

Franz Marc

Tiger,1912

The Little Yellow Horses,1912

Deer in wood-2,
1913-14