Fauvisme: Maurice de Vlaminck

Maurice de Vlaminck (French, 1876-1958)

Figure on a Village Street

Sous-Bois (Paysage), 1905

Oil on canvas

Portrait of André Derain (1906)

The Wheat Field (Champs de Ble) (1906)

The River Bank (1909)

Beauce Landscape (1910)

Near Pontoise, c. 1918–20

Landscape

The Seine at Chatou

The Locks at Bougival

Marine

Oil on canvas, 65 x 81 cm

At the Bar

Collioure, 1941

Maurice de Vlaminck was a French painter and writer who was associated with the Fauvism movement. He was born in 1876 in Paris and grew up in the suburb of Chatou. Vlaminck was self-taught as an artist and began his career as a musician, playing the violin in cafes and clubs. He eventually turned to painting, and in the early 1900s he became associated with a group of artists known as the Fauves (meaning "wild beasts" in French), who were known for their bold, expressive use of color. Vlaminck's early paintings are characterized by their bright, vibrant hues and thick, expressive brushwork. 

He was also a prolific writer, and his memoirs and novels provide insight into the bohemian lifestyle he led as an artist in Paris. Vlaminck continued to paint and write throughout his career, and he died in 1958 at the age of 81.