Matisse, Derain, and their Friends

At the beginning of the 20th century, a group of artists around Henri Matisse and André Derain were carrying out revolutionary colour experiments. The art critic Louis Vauxcelles gave them their name in 1905: the “Fauves”. Translated into English, this means something like “beasts” or “wild animals”. This catalogue is being published for the first survey exhibition on the Fauves staged in Switzerland for decades. It presents the expressive painting style and unusual colour combinations employed by Matisse, Derain and their companions in the years 1904 to 1908, situating them in the aesthetic and socio-political debates of that time. The male connotation of the term Fauves already suggests the exclusion of women artists on a conceptual level. The exhibition and catalogue challenge this traditional view and draw attention to female protagonists on the Paris art scene. Richly illustrated and supplemented by new art-historical research contributions, the publication offers an insight into the diversity of the colourful painting by the “beasts”.

Fauvism – the first avantgarde movement of the 20th century
Brilliant colour experiments in a break with academic conventions
Exhibition: Kunstmuseum Basel, New building, September 2, 2023 to January 2, 2024

Author Biography

Arthur Fink, Research Associate Museum Brandhorst, previously Assistant Curator Kunstmuseum Basel; Claudine Grammont, Director Musée Matisse, Nice; Josef Helfenstein, Director Kunstmuseum Basel