Calvert's Wild Beasts!

Fauvism was a short-lived art movement led by Henri Matisse and Andre Derain from 1905-1908 and is also considered a turning pointing the history of 20th century art. As a reaction against Impressionism, the Fauves’ radical use of color shocked critics and the public (“Fauve” means “wild beast” in French). Rather than using color to accurately depict their subjects, the Fauves experimented with unnatural and arbitrary colors to express their emotions and create visually interesting compositions. Seemingly wild brushwork and high degree of simplification and abstraction were also characteristic of Fauve paintings.

Seventh graders painted Fauve landscapes of their own. They simplified and flattened the space into broad areas of brilliant color and used complementary colors to create visual tension.