Fauve Grooming Scene Woman Washing Herself C 1920 French Female Nude

A lovely and serene scene of a woman washing herself, painted fauve style, with audacious pinks, purples and yellows. The name les fauves (the wild beasts) was coined by the critic Louis Vauxcelles when he saw the work of Henri Matisse and Andr Derain in an exhibition, the salon dautomne in Paris, in 1905. The paintings Derain and Matisse exhibited were the result of a summer spent working together in Collioure in the South of France and were made using bold, non-naturalistic colours (often applied directly from the tube), and wild loose dabs of paint.

Dating from circa 1915-20, our gentle female nude is is French in origin, and quite possibly a preparatory study for a larger work. Measuring 49 x 34 cm at sight, with a little wear and tear around the edges, the oil on paper is framed with a paper mount. To facilitate shipping, I have left the frame unglazed. The overall framed size is 58 x 72 cm.