André Derain

This work forms part of a rare group of figurative watercolors executed by Derain just as Fauvism was reaching its apogee during the years 1905-06. It is typical of the artist's striking handling of watercolor, which is used sparingly, the palette pure and undiluted, with particular accent placed on the reds, blues and oranges. While Derain's approach to watercolors was similar to that of his paintings, he regarded it as a separate activity, in parallel to his painted work, and of equal importance. Derain leaves large areas of the paper unworked, thereby providing a contrast to the strength and fluidity of his line, and intensity of the blocks of color, a technique often employed in his Fauve paintings.

Both demonstrate Derain's at once comic and exaggerated treatment of the theme of bohemian carnivals and cabarets, and while his choice of this subject may show the influence of Toulouse-Lautrec and the painters of Belle-Epoque Montmatre, he transforms the scene into pure Fauve composition, with its emphasis on spatial harmony and chromatic purity.

Fig. 1, Cover of Raymond Cogniat's XXth Century Drawings and Watercolors