An artist whose career was defined by coloristic expression and unyielding originality, Kees van Dongen grabbed the attention of early 20th-century art connoisseurs with his unique style, ranking him among the leading Modernists of the era. During the 1905 Salon d'Automne, van Dongen's vibrant paintings were hung in the same gallery as those of 20th-century revolutionary Henri Matisse.
It was from this pivotal showing that Fauvism, whose artists were the so-called "wild beasts" of the early 1900s, was born. Matisse pioneered the Fauvist technique, exemplified by intensely expressive colors and intense brushwork. Van Dongen's early paintings bore the hallmarks of this explosive expression, ushering him into the circle of the leading avant-garde painters of the day, including Maurice de Vlaminck, Edouard Vuillard and Pablo Picasso. His contemporary, André Derain, was also among the luminaries who shaped the Fauvism movement.
Kees van Dongen (Dutch/French, 1877 - 1968) • Lucie and her Dance Partner • 1911 • Hermitage Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands #KeesvanDongen #modernism #fauvism #20thCenturyEuropeanArt #art #painting #arthistory #oilpainting #dutchartist #HermitageNetherlands #doubleportrait