Houses at Chatou

<p>In reviewing the 1905 Salon d’Automne, an alternative exhibition to the official Salon, one critic likened the work of <a href="https://www.artic.edu/artists/37171">Maurice de Vlaminck</a>, <a href="https://www.artic.edu/artists/35670">Henri Matisse</a>, and <a href="https://www.artic.edu/artists/34241">André Derain</a> to that of wild beasts (<em>fauves</em> in French). Although not intended as a criticism, others used the name to attack this new direction in avant-garde art. The Fauves were not a formally unified group, but their style was nevertheless distinct, characterized by their use of vibrant, unmixed paint and rough, spontaneous brushwork. The thick application, explosive color, and subject of <em>Houses at Chatou</em>—possibly one of the works included in the 1905 Salon—reveal the importance of the work of <a href="https://www.artic.edu/artists/40610">Vincent van Gogh</a> to the Fauves.</p>