Fauvism

This France-based art movement was one of the first to shake the art world in the beginning of the 20th century.  As a movement it has a clear relation to Expressionism and could even be seen as the subsequent and much more colorful version of that "mother movement".  Where Expressionism tended more towards portraits and anguish, however, Fauvism focused on the power of color to give portray the energy of landscapes.  Many of Les Fauves, as the fauvist artists were nicknamed, included such famous names as Henri Matisse, Andre Derain, and Georges Braque.  The name which is French for wild beasts was born when the art critic Louis Vauxcelles described the sculptures which shared the gallery as Donatello among wild beasts.  In time however, Fauvist paintings began to be recognized as an important stepping stone for the rapidly evolving art world.  In many ways their use of not only bright but "incorrect" colors took the final important step to sever the last tie to realism which had for so long dictated what was and was not "art."