At the start of the 20th century, two young artists, Henri Matisse and André Derain formed the basis of a group of painters who enjoyed painting pictures with outrageously bold colors. The group were nicknamed 'Les Fauves' which meant 'wild beasts' in French. Their title was coined by the art critic Louis Vauxcelles who was amused by the exaggerated color in their art. At the Salon d'Automne of 1905 he entered a gallery where Les Fauves were exhibiting their paintings. Surprised by the contrast of their work with a typical renaissance sculpture that stood in the centre of this room, he exclaimed with irony, "Donatello au mileau des fauves!" (Donatello surrounded by the wild beasts!). The name stuck.
Fauvism was not a formal movement with a manifesto of rules and regulations. It was more an instinctive coming together of artists who wished to express themselves by using bold colors, simplified drawing and expressive brushwork.
We used two of the fauvist typical way of painting: using small strokes of color as in pointillism or changing light by warm colors and shadows by cold color, creating some weird and powerful landscapes.
