Fauvism and Feminist Art

The Feminist Art Movement

The feminist art movement refers to the efforts and accomplishments of feminist internationally to make art that reflects women's lives and experiences, as well as to change the foundation for the production and reception of contemporary art. It also sought to bring more visibility to women within art history and art practice. Corresponding with general developments within feminism, the movement began in the late 1960s and flourished throughout the 1970s as an outgrowth of the so-called third wave of feminism; its effects continue to the present. The strength of the feminist movement allowed for the emergence and visibility of many new types of work by women, but also including a whole range of new practices by men.


Important Artist of the Movement
Judy Chicago and Miriam Schapiro, founders of the first known Feminist Art Program (in California), Suzanne Lacy, Faith Wilding, Martha Rosler, Mary Kelly, Kate Millett, Nancy Spero, Faith Ringgold, June Wayne, Sheila Levrant de Bretteville, Dara Birnbaum


Fauvism

The leaders of the movement were Henri Matisse and André Derain. Other artists included Albert Marquet, Charles Camoin, Louis Valtat, the Belgian painter Henri Evenepoel, Jean Puy, Maurice de Vlaminck, Henri Manguin, Raoul Dufy, Othon Friesz, Georges Rouault, the Dutch painter Kees van Dongen, the Swiss painter Alice Bailly and Georges Braque (subsequently Picasso's partner in Cubism).
The paintings of the Fauves were characterized by seemingly wild brush work and strident colors, while their subject matter had a high degree of simplification and abstraction. Fauvism can be classified as an extreme development of Van Gogh's Post-Impressionism fused with the pointillism of Seurat and other Neo-Impressionist painters, in particular Paul Signac. Other key influences were Paul Cezanne and Paul Gauguin, who in 1888 had said to Paul Sérusier.