Portrait of André Derain - Maurice de Vlaminck

A bold 1905 Fauvist portrait of André Derain by Maurice de Vlaminck, featuring non-naturalistic colours and expressive, thick brushwork.

This portrait of André Derain, painted by Maurice de Vlaminck in 1905, captures the raw energy of the Fauvist movement. Vlaminck, a self-taught artist, shared a studio with Derain in Chatou, where they experimented with non-naturalistic colour palettes and aggressive brushwork. This work rejects traditional modelling, opting instead for flat planes of saturated pigment that define the subject through contrast rather than subtle shading. The subject, André Derain, is depicted wearing a bowler hat, his features rendered in simplified, almost mask-like forms. The skin tones are composed of pinks and reds, while the moustache is a stark, bright orange. The background consists of a flat, unmodulated yellow, which pushes the figure forward and eliminates any sense of spatial depth. The paint application is thick and direct, showing the artist's preference for applying pigment straight from the tube. This technique reflects the Fauvist desire to prioritise the emotional impact of colour over the accurate representation of the physical world. As a document of the early twentieth-century Parisian avant-garde, this painting illustrates the close personal and artistic relationship between Vlaminck and Derain. Their collaboration during this period was instrumental in the development of modern painting, as they moved away from the constraints of Impressionism. The portrait remains a clear example of the movement's radical approach to portraiture, where the artist's subjective experience of the sitter takes precedence over objective likeness. The work is held in the collection of the Musée National d'Art Moderne in Paris.