Initially inspired by several posttimpressionists, the group of painters who would become Les Fauves ("The Beasts") used bright colors and loose brush strokes.
Several fauvists, such as Henri Matisse (1869-1954), Albert Marquet (1875-1947) and Georges Rouault (1871-1958), had been students of the symbolist artist Gustave Moreau (1826-1998) and most of them were inspired by the way Cézanne (1839-1906) explored the solidity the expressive brush strokes of Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) and the use of purely juxtaposed colours by Georges Seurat. Matisse is generally considered a leader in fauvism, and other artists have followed him by using intense colors to represent light and space and convey inspiring emotions. Strongly influenced by Moreau's teaching that personal expression was an important aspect of a great painter, Matisse was also particularly influenced by Seurat's pointillism. Abandoning the desire of previous artists to create realistic images, fauvists used color in new ways to project a positive atmosphere and build a sense of structure without directly reproducing reality. Their simplified shapes and saturated colours also drew attention to their shallow surfaces, and their emotional reactions and intuition were considered more important than academic theories or ambitious themes.

With its innovations in the use of color, expression and emphasis on the platitude of painted surfaces, fauvism became a precursor of cubism, expressionism and abstraction. When a group led by Matisse organized an exhibition in Paris in 1905, the critic Louis Vauxcelles (1870-1943) described his paintings as "beasts."

MAIN ARTISTS: HENRI MATISSE • ANDRÉ DERAIN • MAURICE DE VLAMINCK • HENRI MANGUIN • ALBERT MARQUET