Kees van Dongen
Fundamental Paintings to Understand the History of Painting
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The Corn Poppy (1919). Kees van Dongen
Oil on canvas. 54.6 cm x 45.7 cm
Museum of Fine Arts. Houston
Among the first avant-garde movements, there are two that were born almost at the same time and have things in common. Fauvism (which took place in France) and Expressionism (mainly in Germany). Both movements, inspired by Gauguin and Van Gogh, use color furiously to express feelings and moods.
And the question that is not so easy to answer is: how do they differ?
Maybe if we think about the temperaments of both peoples, we may find a subtle difference between the paintings of those movements.
The French were more dedicated to pure painting and the search for beauty. (France has always been “the Kingdom of Beauty and Reason.”) And that is why Fauvist works are not so obsessed with psychological or social depth. In general, the feelings they express are more related to the joy of living.
On the other hand, the Germans appear to be more intense and passionate. To express the deepest emotions (usually with a load of existential anguish), they not only use violent color but also violently deform the figures (let’s take as an example the group The Bridge) or go towards abstraction in a more spiritual search (the group The Blue Rider).
And how does all this relate to Van Dongen?
The fact is that Van Dongen (of Dutch origin) is one of those painters that one doesn’t quite know in which of the two currents to place him. He was a fauvist (he exhibited in the first exhibition of the group, together with Matisse and Derain), but at the same time he was extremely “expressive,” and he ended up exhibiting with the German Expressionists (with the group The Bridge).
His recurring themes are the feminine image and sensuality. His portraits are instantly recognizable for the eyes, which he draws huge and with a very thick stroke.
Van Dongen’s portraits were a success, and he became a portraitist of the upper class.
The artist enjoyed the ephemeral delights of belonging to that universe, and he even organized large parties. He humorously explained: “The secret of my success? You just paint women smaller and their jewelry bigger.”
Despite this, the artist’s worldview is not superficial. His portraits give us a glimpse of a decadent world. A society where abundance and pleasure are combined with a certain sadness and existential emptiness. Glamour and frivolity.
The reflection of a new world where luxury has a tinge of vulgarity.
Recommended links:
Fundamental Painters of Fauvism.
Fundamental Painters of The Bridge (Die Brücke).
Characteristic Elements of Fauvist Painting.
Henri Matisse: “I do not literally paint the table but the emotion it produces upon me.”
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