Fauves & Fauvism

The Fauves (""Wild Beasts'') were young creative revolutionaries in the art world and counted among their number Henri Matisse and such lesser known figures as Andre Derain and Maurice Vlaminck, all of whom admired van Gogh and Gauguin. With their vehement emotional transformation of form and riotous use of color, the Fauves' paintings shocked turn-of-the-century Parisian audiences. At the Salon d'Automne of 1905, critics called the works ``a pot of color flung in the face of the public.'' Leymarie's essay describes the development of painting up to this point and offers a detailed history of the early years of Matisse, Derain and others while lucidly analyzing the paintings themselves. This handsomely produced book contains excellent reproductions, a chronology of the artist's lives as well as a bibliography. An excellent introduction to the period. (June)