Andre Derain - Banks of the Seine

The first signs of a new and specifically twentieth century art movement first appeared at the third Salon d'Automne in Paris in 1905. At the exhibiton a group of younger artists under the leadership of Henri Matisse exhibited paintings so simplified in design and brilliant in colour that a critic described the artists as Fauves ("wild beasts"). Although they painted subject matter familiar to the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist painters much of their inspiration came from the newly discovered exotic arts of African sculptures, Polynesian sculptures and motifs from the ancient cultures of Central and South America. They produced paintings of rich surface texture, lively paterns and bold clashing effects of the primary colours and often used a distorted perspective. The Fauves carried on the trends that had begun by the Post-Impressionist painters Van Gogh and Gauguin.

Matisse - Reclining Nude
with Blue Eyes

Raoul Dufy - Vase de Pois
de Senteur

Marquet - Beach of Fecamp

Matisse - Vue de la Fenetre
Tangberg

Raoul Dufy - Interior with an 
Open Window

Matisse - Interior with Eggplants

Maurice de Vlaminck 
Thatched Cottages