Maurice de Vlaminck

Maurice de Vlaminck (1876-1958), French painter, who, with his friend French painter André Derain, was part of the group that exhibited at the Salon d'Automne in Paris in 1905 and became known as the fauves (wild beasts; see Fauvism). Born in Paris, Vlaminck was largely self-taught (he once boasted that he had never been inside the Louvre museum in Paris). He was a professional bicyclist and earned his living as a violinist before becoming an artist. Vlaminck's work was greatly influenced by the colors and brushwork of Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh, a retrospective of whose work had been shown in Paris in 1901. Painted in pure, intense pigments, Vlaminck's fauvist works such as Red Trees (1906, Museé National d'Art Moderne, Paris) provide brilliant color contrasts. After the decline of fauvism, about 1908, his work—primarily landscapes—became more subdued in color and composition. Typical of these are The Painter's House at Valmondois (1920, Musée National d'Art Moderne) and The Village Road (1935, Arthur Macrae Collection, London). Vlaminck also wrote several novels.