Andre Derain was born in the suburbs in Paris and grew up in a middle-class family. Derain studied engineering as he grew older but found it miserable, causing him to leave the program and pursue drawing. Andre ended up excelling creatively in painting and drawing from age 15. He was known throughout his youth and early adulthood for his rebellious attitude. Derain was pulled away from his creative career when he was forced into the military for 3 years or so. Afterward, he spent time with now famous artists such as Matisse and Ambrose Vollard. Derain was convinced that Fauvism was the perfect form of art for him until after spending an awful lot of time with Picasso, he changed his style to a more gothic approach. (Fauvism is the use of vibrancy and unrealistic tones.) Toward the later years of his life Derain served in the military yet again for 5 years and upon leaving, began to work as a designer for theater sets at many ballets. In 1928 he was awarded the Carnegie Prize. After this he began to denounced modern art and return to classics. He had a huge effect on cubism, fauvism as well as many famous artists throughout his life. A famous quote from Andre Derain is, “Over-indulgence in reality spells death.” I believe this speaks additionally to his love of thinking outside the box by painting in unrealistic ways.
The painting Fishing Boats, Collioure, was completed in 1905 and is an excellent example of Derain’s use of drama through perspective. At first glance the viewer can see two men looking out at what is going on. From a panoramic view one can see people occupied by different occupations on the shore gathering fishing tools, sailboats floating on the water and vibrantly colored mountains in the background below pink fluffy clouds.
In this work, a multitude of attributes of modernism are utilized. To start, Andre Derain’s widespread use of fauvism is one of the prime examples of modernism in this piece. Through his use of very bright and vibrant colors, an unrealistic atmosphere is created for the viewer. The strokes in this work also develop an abstract motif in the way that the colors blend through the ocean, grass and mountains. Abstract art and fauvism are some of the key characteristics of modern art. When I first entered the Metropolitan Museum, I went to the second floor and passed through the nineteenth century paintings and then encountered the Henry J. Heintz galleries where the Fishing Boats painting was.
What drew me to this piece was all ofthe different things going on at once in the painting. For example the small town in the far distance on the right, the mountains and blue skies on the left and the fishermen and sailors near the water closest to the viewer.
One of the questions I have about this piece is what original inspiration for this piece was, whether it was a city that Derain visited or one he wished to, or if it was completely imagination that created the work.
Chris, This is a nice example of early Modernism. In this painting, we can see that Derain is beginning to move away from a more realistic form of painting. We can still tell what he is depicting, but his use of color is one way that he signals that he is no longer working within the framework of Realism. As you’ve explained, the Fauvists use color – not as a way to mirror reality – but rather as a way to convey particular emotions.