YEAR 9
FAUVISM ART
Fauvism was an art movement that started in France in the early 20th century. Fauves is
French for ‘Wild Beasts’, this name was used because the artists used intense, almost
violent colour in an unnatural way. Fauvism stemmed from the impressionist movement,
which is why paint was applied in smaller dabs to portray different tones and shades. The
fathers of Fauvism art were Henri Matisse and Andre Derain, they both used colour in an
exaggerated way within their works. Fauvism art reduced the amount of details, and rather
concentrated on the simplification of shapes and forms, and brushwork. The overall goal of
Fauvism was to express emotion through the colour of paint.
Your task is to create a still life painting in the Fauvism style. Consider the Fauvism colour
palette when painting; for example you may choose blue to show how dark an area is and
contrast it with yellow for the light areas, then fill in the shadows with a mix of greens and
purples. Basically, cool colours are for darker tones, whereas warm colours are for the
lighter tones. You will need to show different brushstrokes within your work to show tone
and shading.