André Derain

Born 1880 in Chatou
Died 1954 in Garches

Derain belonged to the Fauves, whose brilliantly colored painting marks the beginning of modern art in the 20th century.

Derain studied at the Académie Camillo in Paris beginning in 1898. During this time, he also made the acquaintance of Henri Matisse and Vlaminck. In 1905, he and Matisse went to Collioure in the south of France, where they began to use brilliant colors and impulsive brushwork. They exhibited their innovative works at the Salon d’Automne the same year, prompting a critic to describe them as “Fauves” (wild beasts).

In 1906, Derain moved to Montmartre and cultivated his contact with Picasso. Derain’s exposure to both Cézanne and Picasso’s Cubism led him to simplify his forms and clarify his palette. In the 1920s, he reverted to a classical style of painting.

Derain in the collection

André Derain is represented with one work in the Hasso Plattner Collection, on view in the Museum Barberini as a permanent loan from the Hasso Plattner Foundation. With over 110 paintings of French Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, including masterpieces by Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Berthe Morisot, Gustave Caillebotte, and Paul Signac, the museum in Potsdam is one of the most important centers of Impressionist landscape painting in the world.