7.1 — Fauvism and Expressionism
In the early 1900s, artists shattered naturalistic color and intensified form to convey feeling. The Fauves embraced wild, non-natural hues and liberated brushwork, while Expressionists probed psychological and social tensions through distortion, line, and raw pigment.
Fauvism: Wild Color
At the 1905 Salon d’Automne, critics dubbed Matisse, Derain, and their circle “les fauves” (wild beasts) for their unbridled color. Subject matter remained legible, but color became autonomous—expressive rather than descriptive.
- Henri Matisse: “Woman with a Hat,” “The Joy of Life” — flat color zones, arabesque line, and decorative rhythm.
- André Derain: Collioure landscapes with vibrating complementary hues; London series reimagining fog as chromatic fire.
- Raoul Dufy & Maurice de Vlaminck: Energetic, high-key palettes applied to city, river, and leisure scenes.
Definition: Arbitrary Color
Color chosen for expressive impact rather than to match observed reality—central to Fauve practice.
German Expressionism: Inner Truth Over Outer Appearance
Expressionists in Germany used jagged contours, acidic palettes, and carved woodcuts to critique modernity and explore spiritual angst.
- Die Brücke (Dresden/Berlin): Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Erich Heckel, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff — raw color, urban alienation, and woodcut revival.
- Der Blaue Reiter (Munich): Wassily Kandinsky, Franz Marc, Gabriele Münter — spiritual abstraction, symbolic animals, and color-theory explorations.
- Käthe Kollwitz: Prints of social struggle and grief; empathetic, economical line.
Definition: Woodcut Revival
Expressionists embraced the bold, tactile lines of relief printing to achieve immediacy and graphic power, connecting to medieval and non-Western precedents.
Form, Space, and Distortion
Perspective loosens; figures may elongate or tilt; backgrounds flatten into pattern. Line becomes a vehicle for emotion, not just outline. Brushwork remains visible, asserting the painting’s surface.
Sources and Debates
Artists drew on so-called “primitive” arts (African masks, Oceanic carvings) and folk traditions, raising enduring debates about appropriation and modernist myth-making.
Note: From Representation to Abstraction
Kandinsky’s path from Expressionist color to non-objective painting (c. 1910–1913) marks a turn toward abstraction grounded in musical analogies and spiritual theory.
Impact and Legacy
Fauve color freedom influenced Matisse’s lifelong practice and later Color Field painting. Expressionist intensity fed into postwar German art, Abstract Expressionism’s gesture, and contemporary figurative revivals.
Looking Ahead
Next, Chapter 7.2 explores Cubism, where Picasso, Braque, and their circle fracture form and space, redefining pictorial reality.