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The Unorthodox Artist Who Defied the Critics
Painted discoveries by a 20th century creative
André Derain is remembered today as one of the founding painters of the Fauvist movement who, alongside Henri Matisse, became known for their fiery artificial colours and uninhibited brushwork. When they exhibited their works to an alarmed Parisian audience in 1905, one critic famously dubbed them Les Fauves — literally “the wild beasts”.
I don’t know of many other artists who were as committed to discovery as Derain. Everything he did seemed to be pointed towards pulling down the barrier that exists between vision and reality.
When I saw his work recently in a London exhibition, I felt the jolt of something revolutionary. I was hoping for a display to savour — what I found far exceeded my expectations.
Without hesitation
One of Derain’s paintings caught my eye in particular. It is an image of trees lined up before a coastline, painted in the southern French town of L’Estaque in 1906. It is a chance view from a coastal path, a portrait of nature experienced as a dreamlike event on a dazzling summer’s day.
