Andre Derain, The Turning Road , L'Estaque, ca. 1906, Oil on Canvas, Fauvism.

Size: 4'2.5" X 6'4.5"

Genre: Landscape

Origin: France

Now: Beck Collection at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

The painting done by Andre Derain speaks clearly of the movement it dwells in for the following very many reasons. The identity of a Fauve painting was predominantly through the use of bright colors which is very vivid in this particular piece. The colors are not only vibrant and attractive but also are used in complementary pairs of colors from the color wheel. The colors incorporated are oranges with blues and reds with greens. This color contradiction is highlighted all throughout the painting with the orange tree trunks and multi-colored leaves with colors from blue-green-red. The painting the Turning road is a landscape so the forms of the structure are differentiated with the use of color as there is no outlining and fine strokes. Actually, Andre Derain has used broken brush strokes that are swift and flat daubs of color as his painterly style of expressing his emotions behind the painting. The piece when viewed from a distance with squinted eyes would appear like a collage of colorful shapes put together in one frame. The painting has figures in lower half of it but just like the figures in Henri Matisse's Joy of Life, they are elongated and disproportionate. the facial features are not present and the only way one can see or notice the difference between the genders would be through the way their clothes take shape on the bodies. Every figure in the painting is headed towards the big blue path which is the river. The way the trees curve with the path emphasize the meaning behind the title. Overall the depth in the painting doesn't differ too much within the foreground and the background and the shadows in the painting are created by drastic color variations unlike naturalistic form of shadow representation.

Fauvism was not just representing a location or portrait or still life even we generalize them as that but it is particularly about expressing the artist's emotions without the artistic rules and regulations in mind.

Juxtaposition was the key factor towards which this movement is geared towards and any painting just like this by Derain did definitely highlight the movement in different plots and emotions. Derain was someone:

"In Derain's ides it is seldom possible to distinguish the passion for painting from the passion for philosophical and mystical inquiry. His art rises from the necessity in the whole man to penetrate and recreate the mystery of life."

The above lines explain the motive behind any painting done by Derain. He does paintings that lead to a mystery just like here the turning road is leading to somewhere which has not been specified in the piece. Being a part of this movement it is said to be Fauvist as it has a philosophical meaning behind its existence. Hence the painting is entirely with the Fauve vibe through the use of vibrant complementary colors, disproportionate figures, featureless and formless beings and lack of defining lines and naturalistic representation of a scene.