The Wild Ones (Les Fauves) Who Changed French Painting by Ronit Gruman

October 18, 1905. BParis The third “Autumn Salon” opens. The exhibition was first organized in 1903, as a response to the official “Salon” run by the Academy of Fine Arts. The “Autumn Salon” was an alternative for artists who were rejected by the official Salon’s admissions committee.

We must have the freedom and desire to understand a new artistic language.

This is what Eli Fora, a respected art historian, wrote in the exhibition catalog. Is this really what happened?

A bucket full of paint was thrown at the audience of visitors to the exhibition.

Quote from the respected newspaper "Le Figaro".

The fate of the woman in the painting would be similar to that of a Christian virgin in a Roman circus full of predatory animals.

A quote from another respected newspaper…

The commotion was caused by the works exhibited by a group of painters: Maurice Lamanac, Albert Marquet, André Derain, and, most notably, Henri Matisse.
Art critic Louis Wessel reacted with astonishment to the sight of their works, saying, “This is a cage of savages.” Another version says that the critic looked in astonishment at the bright, vivid colors of the pictures, and finally his eyes rested on a small statuette in a naturalistic style, and with a sigh of relief said, “Donatello imprisoned among savages.” The transparent paraphrase of “Daniel in the Lions’ Den” was well received by the public, and the artistic movement was immediately called “Fauvism” – “savage painting.” The artists happily adopted it.

Fauvism continues the revolution of modern art

This scandal is typical of the encounter between the innovations of modern art and the public. Modern art involves a willingness to devour what was consensual and does not allow the public to “sink into a comfortable armchair.” The image of a “comfortable armchair” is taken from the words of Matisse, who is considered the artist most identified with Fauvism, and to a large extent also the leader of the group.

“Art,” he argued, should be “like a comfortable armchair in which one can rest from physical exertion,” “without worrying or disturbing content.” Art should be a kind of refuge from the world, a kind of ideal state of existence. Matisse’s expression may be misleading. He did strive for peace, harmony, and simplicity, but the pictorial means he used were a continuous struggle with the conventions of existing painting.

So what caused the scandal, what angered the critics?

The storm arose mainly around the new color quality of the Fauvists. They used raw, unmixed colors, which were applied to the canvas without gradation of shades. Sometimes they were applied while being defined by a thick outline of dark color. The brushstrokes were bold and clear.
The Fauvists shed all the burden of the framework of the Academy's rules of painting, such as: refined color harmonies, composition, and the rules of perspective. The picture broke away from naturalistic description.

In Matisse's opinion, Leonardo da Vinci's rules of painting were wonderful, but a painter who painted according to them at the beginning of the twentieth century would not express the spirit of his time. Let's look at some examples that illustrate the characteristics of Fauvism!

Henri Matisse, The Green Line: Portrait of Mrs. Matisse

I do not dwell on the details of the facial features. I do not try to reproduce them with anatomical fidelity. I choose from the facial features those that suggest that deep seriousness that exists in every person.

In traditional portraits, the depiction mainly represents the “model” and his character. The artist’s ability was measured in relation to the similarity between the depicted and the image, or at least in highlighting the character traits or status symbols of the model. In contrast, with Matisse, the portrait becomes a play of pure and bright colors that express his aesthetic ideas.

Henri Matisse, The Dance 1910

This picture is one of the peaks of Matisse's work. The simplicity is maximum. The landscape is reduced to simple strips of green earth and blue sky. The figures have brown hair and bodies. Everything is painted uniformly and flat. The intensity of the color is maximum. The flowing line adds to the expression of the dance movement.

Henri Matisse, The Dining Table – Harmony in Red 1910

This image unites various qualities in Matisse's works: the expression of color, the power of line, flatness, the elimination of space and volume. In "Harmony in Red," the decorative element of color, the pattern, and the emotion radiating from the image are Matisse's main concern.

Lasting influence on art in America

The “Savages” (Fauvists) operated as a group for three years, from 1905 to 1908. But Fauvism, despite its short-lived existence, influenced twentieth-century art. Its traces are evident, among other things, in certain works by Joan Miró, Wassily Kandinsky, Marc Chagall, and others.

What happened in Paris in 1905 is nothing compared to what happened in 1913 in America…

In 1913, the “International Exhibition of Modern Art,” known as the “Armory Show,” opened in New York. This was the first major exhibition of modern art in America. The exhibition traveled from New York to Chicago and Boston. To an audience accustomed to realistic (“sleepy provincial”) art, the European avant-garde was revealed.

A big bang and a scandal! “Full of oddities, distortions, obscenities, whimsical and crazy,” was how one of the visitors contemptuously described the exhibition. “This is not art,” said Theodore Roosevelt, the president, regarding modern art.

The intensive coverage helped. In Chicago, 100.000 visitors came. On the last day of the exhibition, art students and professors protested against the radical works on display, including Matisse’s “Blue Nude.” They organized a mock public trial. Students played the roles of judge, lawyer, and jury. The painter was accused of “art murder” and found guilty. Copies of Matisse’s paintings were set on fire.

But, in the perspective of time, these events marked the beginning of American art's adherence to the vision of modern art that would reach its peak of maturity only after two world wars, in the abstract expressionism of the 1940s. During these years, the artistic primacy moved from Paris to New York.

And finally…

Modern art invites its viewers to get up from their comfortable armchair and instead places something that is more like a bed of nails... But at the end of the road, pleasure is also guaranteed. The road to pleasure is fraught with setbacks, difficulties, and disruptions (Ruth Director, Contemporary Art I Speak to You)

A few words about Ronit Gruman

Although her educational background (mathematical and physical major in high school, undergraduate degree in biology, master's degree studies at Hanoch University) is far from culture, France It has always been a subject of her love and interest. The main reason for this is that her late mother was a devoted Francophile and she absorbed a love for French culture from her childhood. In recent years, Ronit has returned to another youthful love: dance. This love also originates from her childhood, as she danced classical ballet for 10 years.

Today she gives lectures, most of which are related to dance. It is important to her to present the historical background and how it is expressed in the subjects of ballet and the various ballet styles. In addition, she describes the connection between ballet and literature, music and painting of the period. She is proud that her lectures are successful in attracting interest even children and young people with no previous background in the above subjects. Her husband is a full partner in the activity and in every class we perform together.

Email for contact and lecture booking : pablogrohman@hotmail.com