Fauvism

Fauvism was a predominantly French movement which, although short-lived, had far-reaching effects as part of the Expressionist movement. It was concerned solely with the use of bold colour and the name derived from the French 'Fauve', meaning 'wild beast'. The term was used by Louis Vauxcelles in 1905 to describe the dazzling canvasses of a group of painters who were exhibiting at the Salon d'Automne in Paris. These artists who included Henri Matisse, had used colour in an emotional and expressionistic way, rather than in the traditional Impressionistic fashion. They had little else in common, however, and the movement soon disintegrated, but its legacy to the general art scene was to pave the way for the uninhibited use of colour. By freeing artists from the realistic traditions that had previously restricted their creative expression, all the senses were brought into play, rather than just the visual, as they explored the emotional aspects of their subjects.