Maurice de Vlaminck (1876-1958) is one of the most important French modernist painters and was a member of the group known as the ‘Fauves’ (‘Wild Ones’), which formed around Henri Matisse and André Derain in 1905. Vlaminck was born in Paris in 1876, the son of a musician couple. His father came from Flanders. Vlaminck received his first painting lessons from 1888 to 1891, but did not complete an academic education. He worked as a professional bicycle racer and mechanic, completed military service and became a musician in 1896. In 1900, Vlaminck met the painter André Derain – a legendary encounter that led Vlaminck back to painting. He shared a studio with Derain in Chatou and mainly painted landscapes along the Seine, which he explored by bicycle. When a group of artists formed around Henri Matisse at the Salon d’Automne in 1905, which contemporary critics labelled the Fauves (‘savages’), Vlaminck was also a member. The colour-intensive painting of the Fauves led to the development of expressive painting with formal parallels to German Expressionism. Like no other member of the group, Vlaminck identified with the attribute of wildness and propagated the image of a modern artist rebel early on, who resolutely turned his back on the rules of academic painting. Vincent van Gogh’s oeuvre was a central source of inspiration. Vlaminck quickly became a leading representative of the French avant-garde and was also celebrated in Germany as a pioneer of modernism.
(Source: The website of the Von der Heydt-Museum in Germany).
In this post I present three still life paintings by Maurice de Vlaminck. One is bright, the second is dark, and the third is in the middle. I start with the “bright” painting.
Maurice de Vlaminck – Nature morte aux poissons et au compotier, 1907.
Oil on canvas, 50 x 61 cm.
Fondation Bemberg, Tolouse, France
Compare the bright painting with the dark “Nature morte avec poisson et fruits”.
which was auctioned by Sotheby’s in 2020.
Signed Vlaminck (lower left)
Oil on canvas
32 5/8 by 46 1/4 in. (83.1 by 118 cm)
As is the case with many things in life, there is also a middle-ground painting.
Nature morte, 1907
huile sur toile
H. 54,4 ; L. 65,0 cm.
Donation Max et Rosy Kaganovitch, 1973
© Adagp, Paris, 2025 © RMN-Grand Palais (Musée d’Orsay) / Hervé Lewandowski
Gastrolvios 