Wednesday, May 2, 2018

André Derain

André Derain (1880 –1954) was a French artist, painter, sculptor and co-founder of Fauvism with Henri Matisse.
Self portrait
Derain and Matisse worked together through the summer of 1905 in the Mediterranean village of Collioure and later that year displayed their highly innovative paintings at the Salon d'Automne. The vivid, unnatural colors led the critic Louis Vauxcelles to derisively dub their works as les Fauves, or "the wild beasts", marking the start of the Fauvist movement.
André Derain, 1952
During the German occupation of France in World War II, Derain lived primarily in Paris and was much courted by the Germans because he represented the prestige of French culture. Derain accepted an invitation to make an official visit to Germany in 1941 and travelled with other French artists to Berlin to attend a Nazi exhibition of an officially endorsed artist, Arno Breker. 
Boby au béret
Derain's presence in Germany was used effectively by Nazi propaganda, and after the Liberation he was branded a collaborator and ostracized by many former supporters.

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