Fauve

[ fohv ]

/ foʊv /

noun

(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.

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. 2019

British Dictionary definitions for fauvist

Fauve

/ (French fov) /

noun

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

adjective

(often not capital) of this group or its style

Derived FormsFauvism, nounFauvist, noun, adjective

Word Origin for Fauve

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

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.