Fauvism: 100 famous paintings where color dares everything

Fauvism draws its energy from a very direct freedom: artists stop asking colors to obediently imitate the world. A sky can become pink, a shadow green, an almost incandescent face. Painting no longer seeks only resemblance; she seeks intensity. It's less wise, much more lively, and frankly better for waking up a bored wall.

Henri Matisse gives the movement some of his most decisive images. At home, color organizes the space as much as it decorates it. Luxury, calm and voluptuousness, Woman in a Hat or The Open Window in Collioure show a painting where each shade seems to have received the right to speak louder than expected. The result remains elegant, but with an elegance that has tidyed up the white gloves.

André Derain plays an equally spectacular role. His views of London, Collioure or the Thames transform landscapes into electric visions. Bridges, water, boats and facades become fiery surfaces. We recognize the place, but above all we feel the shock. Derain doesn't just paint what he sees: he increases the volume of the sensation.

Around them, Raoul Dufy brings his graphic liveliness, Albert Marquet his more sober construction, Othon Friesz a solid material, Henri Manguin a carnal sweetness, Louis Valtat a Mediterranean light, Auguste Chabaud a more nocturnal tension. Strict fauvism lasted a short time, but its temperament continued among nearby colorists. The brief flames sometimes leave one very long heat.

This movement is essential because it frees color for all modern art. Before Fauvism, color often accompanies form; after him, she can become subject, architecture, emotion and almost main character. Cubism, expressionism, abstraction and many colorists owe something to this initial insolence. A very useful insolence, like a stroke of sun in a living room too careful.

In a decoration, wild paintings have an immediate presence. They can energize a neutral room, structure a white wall, warm an entrance or give an office the air of a very specific vacation. You simply have to give them space: a wild work doesn't like to be stuck between two shy frames. She needs to breathe, and sometimes to act a little like the spotlight.

The charm of Fauvism finally lies in its balance between audacity and pleasure. The colors are frank, but the subjects often remain accessible: ports, windows, streets, landscapes, figures, parties. We easily enter the image, then we discover that everything vibrates a little more than expected. It is a welcoming painting, but not docile; she smiles, then mentally repaints the sofa.