| Maurice
Vlaminck (1876 - 1958)
Born in Paris in April 1876, his Father was Flemish (indeed the
original name De Wlaminck is the Flemish word meaning Flemish)
and his mother was from Lorraine; both were musicians. They settled
in the western Parisian suburb of Le Vésinet in 1879. Records
show that Maurice was married by 1894 and had many children. He
did his military service from 1896-1899 and afterwards earned
money by giving music lessons and as a professional violinist
for the Théâtre du Chateau d’Eau. Working also
as a courier on his bicycle, he cut a bohemian figure, with robust
gypsy looks and an unconventional outlook.
Maurice de Vlaminck was never trained as an artist, except for
some early advice on drawing from Robichon, who was a member of
the Société des Artistes Français and from
Henri Rigal, with whom he worked on the Eyot of Chatou on the
Seine and at Pont de Chatou. He learned most by looking at the
work of other contemporary artists, making visits to the art galleries
in the rue Laffitte. He liked the Impressionists and in 1900 he
met Monet. Most influentially, though, he became a friend of André
Dérain, with whom he rented a dilapidated studio on the
Eyot of Chatou, near Le Vésinet, where they became the
only members of the self-styled, two-member Ecole de Chatou. They
spent their time together studying, painting, discussing and developing
various theories. Living and working on the banks of the Seine,
lazing about in rowing boats and yachts, most of Vlaminck’s
subjects from 1900-1904 reflect the harmless profligacy of the
easy life. Together with Dérain he visited the van Gogh
Exhibition in 1901. It proved a turning point and Vlaminck was
profoundly impressed by the freedom in van Gogh’s style
and his use of pure colour.
Vlaminck suffered what he considered to be a personal betrayal
when his soulmate Dérain, four years younger, abandoned
their clique and enrolled at the Académie to learn the
basics of his craft. It was Vlaminck, though, who was to take
the art world by storm. He exhibited in the Galerie Berthe Weill
in Paris in 1904, he met Matisse and others of his circle, and
in 1905 he showed at the Salon des Indépendants. Most important,
later that year his work was included in the famous cage aux fauves
at the Salon d’Automne in the company of Matisse, Marquet,
Dérain, Rouault, Manguin, Camoin, Puy and Friesz. After
that he never really stuck with one particular salon, preferring
to exhibit groups of paintings in different galleries. His first
full-scale public exhibition was with Vollard in 1906, after which
Vollard purchased everything in Vlaminck’s studio.
During the few years when he, as others among the Fauves used
pure colour (that is using the paint exactly as it came out of
the tube), the artist rejected on principle the study of the chemistry
of colour and its correct use. This carefree approach, combined
with Vlaminck’s slender means which kept him from buying
the best quality paints (indeed it seems he bought the cheapest
available until about 1912) has meant that the canvases from this
era have not withstood the test of time.
Increasingly between 1908 and 1914, Vlaminck abandoned the use
of pure colour and alongside his friends André Dérain
and Othon Friesz, based his work on the teachings of Cézanne.
Vlaminck was clearly overwhelmed by the intensity of Cézanne’s
brushwork and attention to light. Vlaminck has adopted the strong
blues and greens of Cézanne’s palette and his signature
diagonal brushstrokes, while employing bold, Fauve elements typical
of earlier works. His construction of volume and space bordered
on cubism, though he denounced the Cubist approach as over-intellectual
and sterile.
His style, now fully developed, remained constant for much of
the rest of his life. It owes much to Expressionism but is as
individual a style as this rugged revolutionary could make it.
He loved crowds, popular amusements and speed, being fascinated
by its effect on vision. He concentrated on landscapes of stormy
weather with dark shadows, strong light effects and wild skies.
His technique of slashing brush strokes and heavy impasto recall
Courbet, with whom his work is often compared. He also painted
town scenes, interiors, still lifes, portraits and nudes.
Some of Vlaminck’s best works are in watercolour and gouache,
and he was a fine draughtsman, lithographer as well as wood engraver.
He illustrated a number of books with pen and ink drawings, (now
rarely found), among them Le diable au corps by Raymond Radiguet,
Les Hommes abandonnés by Georges Duhamel, En suivant la
Seine by Gustave Coquiot, Mont-Cinère by Julien Green,
Grasse Normandie by G Reuillard, and Voyages by Vanderpyl. He
also illustrated many of his own novels, poems and essays, among
them Histoires et Poèmes de mon époque, Communications
and Tournant dangereux.
In 1919 he exhibited at Druet and later was represented in a number
of Exhibitions devoted to Fauvism. Notable among these: in 1951
and 1957 at the Musée Nationale d’Art Moderne de
Paris, in 1952-53 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and
in 1962 at the Galerie Charpentier in Paris. The Museum of Fine
Arts in Chartres held an exhibition of his work in 1987. He also
showed his work in Brussels and in 1955 Vlaminck was honoured
by his family’s country of origin with his election as a
member of the Royal Academy of Belgium.
Exhibitions
Museums: Antwerp, Avignon, Belgrade, Berlin, Brussels, Chartres,
Chicago, Epinal, Grenoble, Le Havre, London (Tate Gallery), Munich,
Nantes, New York (Museum of Modern Art), Ottowa, Paris (Musée
Nationale d’Art Moderne, Musée du Petit Palais, Bibliothèque
Nationale), St Tropez, Stuttgart, Tokyo, Troyes, Washington DC
(National Gallery).
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