View of Saint Maurice lès Charencey
Maurice De Vlaminck
MAURICE DE VLAMINCK, 1950. OIL ON CANVAS.
Vlaminck ignored the details. From an early age he rejected the traditional teaching methods of copying masterpieces from museums, keen to make sure that his inspiration was pure and his style unadulterated by influence. Landscapes were but a vehicle for a violent expression told through brushstrokes. The subjects of the scenes were carefully considered but Vlaminck felt no allegiance or responsibility towards them, in both landscape and portraiture. Instead, he was deeply committed to himself, and prioritised the authenticity of his own expression above all else. A lifelong fauvist, art was for him a wild and personal thing, and he saw Picasso and Braques cubism as a dead-end that dragged painting into a state of confusion, away from the expression of human emotion and into something all the headier and more distant. This painting of Vue Saint Maurice tells us little of the road, but in the furious snow and aggressive sky, we learn a lot about Vlaminck.