Derain

André Derain, a 20th century French painter, sculptor, printmaker, and writer, played a central role in the emergence of Fauvism. Self-taught, he was inspired by great contemporary masters such as Vincent Van Gogh and Paul Cézanne. In 1900, he became friends with Maurice de Vlaminck, with whom he rented a studio on the island of Chatou, on the banks of the Seine. In 1904, Derain participated for the first time in the Salon des Independants. The following year, with Henri Matisse, he caused the first aesthetic revolution of the 20th century in Collioure, in the south of France. Their Fauvism, an artistic current characterized by bright colors and simplified design, seeks to express emotions and sensations in an intense and spontaneous way. In 1906, the discovery of primitive art in London upset Derain. He then took a fresh look at the work of Paul Gauguin and became one of the main representatives of the “return to order”. He now focuses on classical themes where emotion is reflected in the simplicity of the subject, the intensity of the gaze and the purity of the line. His prolific work is now part of museum collections and private collections around the world. In 2020, the Pompidou Center in Paris presented the exhibition Derain 1904-1914, the radical decade, which brings together the most acclaimed productions of André Derain.

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