Jean Puy and Young Woman Reading Along The Odet

Jean Puy, born on 8 November 1876

Due to the NaNoWriMo Project, I will continue to post a painting a day for the month of November but I won't have time to write. I may add text at a later date. I hope you will still visit to see the daily painting. 

Albert Marquet and Sailboats

Due to my stay and volunteer work in Peru for most of June and July, I won't have time to write but I will continue to post a painting a day. I may add text upon returning to Amsterdam. I hope you will still visit to see the daily painting. 

Kees van Dongen and The Corn Poppy

'The Corn Poppy' (c.1919) by Kees van Dongen; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

Today I had a hard time choosing just one painting by Dutch painter Kees van Dongen, born on 26 January 1877 and died on 28 May 1968. Because there are many that I like. Van Dongen was a Fauvist painter and was involved with the German expressionist movement Die Brücke. In his first paintings he used dark tones, influenced by the work of Rembrandt. By the mid-1890s his colour palette changed and he started using brighter colours and his brushstrokes became more animated. In 1897, Van Dongen arrived in Paris where he would share a studio with Picasso. It was here in Paris that he developed into a celebrated artist. He became famous for his numerous colourful portraits of women. Some time ago I visited the wonderful exhibition 'The big eyes of Kees van Dongen' in the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam and it was great to see so many paintings together. I cannot remember whether today's painting was on display but I love it. Stunning red hat and black eyes! To cheat once more, I will show you some more paintings. Because I like this one as well, and this one, and this one, and this one. I could go on and on!

Charles Camoin and Lola seated with Big Hat

'Lola seated with big hat' (1920) by Charles Camoin; no location found

When I think of Fauvism, I think of Henri Matisse and his exuberant colours. I'm happy to get to know another Fauvist painter today, Charles Camoin, born on 23 September 1879 and died on 20 May 1965. Camoin lost his father at an early age and his mother enrolled him at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris where he befriended Matisse and Albert Marquet. He got acquainted with the work of Paul Cézanne and set up an active correspondence with the artist. After his meeting with Cézanne, he moderated the use of colour in his paintings. In 1913 he went through a deep artistic crisis which resulted in him destroying about eighty paintings of his work. He regained the joy of painting after a trip with Matisse to Morocco that same year. He developed a more colourful palette after visiting Pierre-Auguste Renoir in Cagnes in 1918. Camoin is well-known for his nudes, interiors and landscapes. I couldn't find the English title for today's painting and translated it from the French one, 'Lola assise au grand chapeau'. Lola was the name for Charlotte Prost whom Camoin married in 1920. I couldn't find a location for the painting either but it sold at Christie's for only $ 9,200 on 18 May 1999. For further reading, click here.