fauvism means an artistic movement of the first decade of the 20th century which emphasized spontaneity and the use of extremely bright colors. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.
Why “fauvism” is a great word
Fauvism is an early 20th-century art movement defined by the use of intensely vivid, non-naturalistic color and bold, impassioned brushwork. From French *fauvisme*, from *fauve* (“wild beast”) + *-isme* (“-ism”), the term was coined circa 1905 by critic Louis Vauxcelles. Unlike Impressionism, which sought to capture the fleeting nuances of observed light, or Expressionism, which channeled inner anguish through form, Fauvism was a primal, jubilant assertion of color as an independent force. It is a sky of vermilion, a tree of cobalt, and a face slashed with emerald—color unleashed from description to become its own fierce and luminous reality, a brief, brilliant shout against the tyranny of the seen.
Etymology
From French fauvisme, attributed to French art critic Louis Vauxcelles.
noun
- An artistic movement of the first decade of the 20th century which emphasized spontaneity and the use of extremely bright colors.“Paris had been the birthplace of the Modernist sensibility during the latter half of the previous century, when its cafés, studios and tolerant atmosphere helped nurture the symbolist school in poetry and impressionism in painting. By the start of the First World War, it had sheltered fauvism, cubism, expressionism, vorticism, and a host of other splinter movements through which the emerging cultu”