Fauvist Landscape

1. Fauvism was an art movement popular in France from 1904 to 1908 that was known for its use of vivid color. Fauves is the French word for ‘the wild beasts’. The use of wild color is the focus in this artwork and it is used to express feeling. The leader of this movement was artist Henri Matisse.
2. Take a look at the work of fauvist artists Henri Matisse and Andre Derain. Examine their non-traditional use of color. Use your imagination to create your own fauvist landscape composition.
3. Create a fauvist landscape drawing using Crayola Color Sticks. Use different techniques while coloring like pressure variation to lighten and darken colors; cross-hatching with closely spaced lines; and layering colors to create different hues. Color Sticks are also great for broad strokes, shadows, and highlights.
4. When your fauvist landscape drawing is complete, finish it by mounting it onto another piece of construction paper in a contrasting color. Attach the drawing to the construction paper with a Crayola Glue Stick.

LA: Read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, at the high end of the grade level text complexity band independently and proficiently.

LA: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher led) with diverse partners on grade level topics and texts, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.

SS: Describe ways in which language, stories, folktales, music, and artistic creations serve as expressions of culture and influence behavior of people living in a particular culture.

SS: Explore factors that contribute to one's personal identity such as interests, capabilities, and perceptions.

SS: Identify and use various sources for reconstructing the past, such as documents, letters, diaries, maps, textbooks, photos, and others.

VA: Intentionally take advantage of the qualities and characteristics of art media, techniques, and processes to enhance communication of experiences and ideas.

VA: Select and use the qualities of structures and functions of art to improve communication of ideas.

Possible classroom resources include: Henri Matisse (The Art for Children) by Ernest Lloyd Raboff; Colorful Dreamer: The Story of Artist Henri Matisse by Marjorie Blain Parker; Meet Me at the Art Museum: A Whimsical Look Behind the Scenes by David Goldin; Matisse the King of Color (Anholt's Artists Books for Children Series) by Laurence Anholt

Ask students to take digital photographs of local landscapes and upload the photos to a classroom computer. Organize the photographs in a PowerPoint presentation for student viewing. Students select a single photo to replicate using color in a fauvist style. Compare and contrast the artwork with the photograph.

Invite students to crate a still-life and display it in the classroom. Have students re-create the still-life using color in a fauvist style. Display student artwork in the classroom for discussion.

Ask students to create a traditional drawing of a local landscape. Then recreate the same drawing using color in a fauvist style. Discuss the different feelings each composition evokes.