* * * * *
From the foregoing it is clear that _Fauvism_ does not mean a particular
mode or technic, like Classicism, Romanticism, Realism, Impressionism,
etc., etc. It means a _mood_ rather than a _mode_. Every painter in
revolt against prevailing taste and standards was and is a _Fauve_.
Not all Post-Impressionists are Fauves, but many are so called, for
instance, the following:[29]
Odilon Redon, Othon Friez, Picasso (the founder of Cubism), Van Dongen,
André Derain, Vlaminck, Marquet, George Braque, Raoul Dufy, Robert
Delauney, M’lle Laurencin, Jean Metzinger, Pierre Girieud, Verhoeven.
Of the above four are well known Cubists; Redon is a poetic personality
quite apart; while the others exhibit marked individualities in their
work.
Les Fauves in Germany are “Die Wilden,” embracing the “Brücke” of
Dresden, the “Neue Sezession” of Berlin, the “Neue Vereinigung” of
Munich.[30]
Those of Russia are Larionoff, P. Kuznezoff, Sarjan, Denissow, Kantsch,
Schalowsky, Maschkoff, Frau Gontscharof, von Wisen, W. and D. Burljuk,
Kanabe, Jakulof; and others who live in foreign countries, such as
Schereczowa, Paris; Kandinsky Werefkina, Jawlensky, Bechteyeff, Genin in
Munich.[31]
Among the best known English artists who might fairly be classed as
“Fauves” are Ferguson, Peploe, Lewis, Wyndhover Lewis, Duncan Grant,
Mrs. Bell, Frederic Etchells, Miss Etchells, Eric Gill, Spencer F. Gore,
and a man who has done heroic service for the new movement, Roger Fry.
There are, however, comparatively speaking, so few “Fauves” in England
that the guns of the critics rust on the racks; while in America they
are so scattered they have as yet attracted no attention by concerted
action.
Almost the only man in this country who has persistently painted in
Cubist fashion for any length of time is Arthur Dove, one of whose
pictures is reproduced.
When asked how he came to paint as he does Dove said:
After having come to the conclusion that there were a few
principles existent in all good art from the earliest examples we
have, through the Masters to the present, I set about it to analyze
these principles as they are found in works of art and in nature.
One of these principles which seemed most evident was the choice of
the simple motif. This same law held in nature, a few forms and a
few colors sufficed for the creation of an object.
Consequently I gave up my more disorderly methods (impressionism);
in other words, I gave up trying to express an idea by stating
innumerable little facts, the statement of facts having no more to
do with the art of painting than statistics with literature.
He then refers to “that perfect sense of order which exists in the early
Chinese painting,” and goes on:
The first step was to choose from nature a motif in color, and with
that motif to paint from nature, the form still being objective.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account