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Fauve

[fohv]
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noun
  1. (sometimes lowercase) any of a group of French artists of the early 20th century whose works are characterized chiefly by the use of vivid colors in immediate juxtaposition and contours usually in marked contrast to the color of the area defined.
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Origin of Fauve

1910–15; < French: wild beast, noun use of fauve wild, literally, tawny < Germanic; see fallow2
Related formsFauv·ism, nounFauv·ist, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
British Dictionary definitions for fauvist

Fauve

noun
  1. one of a group of French painters prominent from 1905, including Matisse, Vlaminck, and Derain, characterized by the use of bright colours and simplified forms
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adjective
  1. (often not capital) of this group or its style
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Derived FormsFauvism, nounFauvist, noun, adjective

Word Origin

C20: from French, literally: wild beast, alluding to the violence of colours, etc
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for fauvist

Fauvist

n.

movement in painting associated with Henri Matisse, 1915, from French fauve, "wild beast" (12c., in Old French "fawn-colored horse, dark-colored thing, dull," from Frankish *falw-, from the Germanic root of fallow (adj.)). Coined by French art critic Louis Vauxcelles at Autumn Salon of 1905. It was a reaction against impressionism, featuring vivid use of colors. Related: Fauvism.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper