Style Imitating Art: The Turning Road!

Style Imitating Art…

Welcome to Style Imitating Art which comes from Salazar, Shelbee, and me. You can think of this series as fashion meets art museum! SIA challenges people to find inspiration in different art works, create looks based upon that art work, and share them with the curator for that piece. I am this week’s curator with this colorful piece of art. I hope you enjoy this post, the information, and my interpretation.

How it works…

Every other Monday one of us selects an inspiration piece of art and posts the image on their blog. We then invite others to interpret that art work through their style. The following Monday, we share our outfits. The curator shares submissions the following Wednesday on her blog. I chose this week’s art work for this round of Style Imitating Art. If you’d like, you can read why I chose it here. Please send your photo to me by Tuesday, November 18th, 2025 by 10 pm EST. Style Imitating Art is an interesting way to inspire your outfits. You can see a few of my looks here, here, here, and here.

The artist…

André Derain was born in Chatou, Yvelines, Île-de-France, just outside Paris on June 10, 1880.  Despite claims that Derain had met Henri Matisse and Maurice de Vlaminck, he actually began painting on his own.  Every once in a while, he would travel out to the country with Father Jacomin, a friend of Paul Cézanne’s.  In 1898, during one of these outings, he did finally meet Matisse.  Derain was also studying to be an engineer at the Académie Camillo.  It’s funny how many artists start out in more left brain occupations before surrendering to their right brains!  And, thank goodness they do!  In addition to his studying engineering, Derain was also studying under Eugène Carrière.  Two years later, he and Vlaminck shared a studio and started painting scenes from their neighborhood.  In September 1901, Derain’s studies were interrupted by military service at Commercy.  When he got out of his military service in 1904, Matisse convinced Derain’s parents to let him end his study of engineering and concentrate on his artistic studies.  He began studying at the famous Académie Julian. 

A little more…

In 1905, Derain and Matisse traveled to the Mediterranean village of Collioure.  It was here that Derain created Mountains at Collioure, Boats, Collioure (Bateaux dans le port, Collioure, 1905) and “other works in bold contrasting colors illuminated by bright southern light (source)”  I’m sure Matisse completed something, but this isn’t about him, right?  The two displayed their works at the Salon d’Automne.  I’m going to purposely digress here.

Salons…

The Salon d’Automne was held in Paris and was a direct reaction to the more conservative Paris Salon.  These Salons were really big deals.  If you were anyone, you wanted to exhibit there.  And, if you were rejected by the Paris Salon, you might get lucky and exhibit at the Salon des Refusés which translates to “exhibition of rejects!”  Emperor Napoleon III, after seeing so many works refused by the Paris Salon, decided to have a new salon for the rejects.  His thinking was to let the people see and decide for themselves if they liked these new kinds of paintings.  Curious about who exhibited at the inaugural Salon des Refusés?  Well, how about Édouard Manet?  Or, maybe James McNeill Whistler?  But, back to the Salon d’Automne…among the artists displaying their work there were Auguste Rodin, Cézanne, Matisse, Gauguin, and, of course, Derain.  You can read more about the Salon d’Automne here. 

Back to Derain…

So, what does all that have to do with our artist?  Derain wasn’t just painting pretty pictures of landscapes and people. He and his new friends were exploring a different way of painting.  They were taking the paint right from the tubes:

“Under the influence of Paul Signac’s painting, Derain applied pure colours straight from the tube onto a canvas with a white ground in thick, square dabs of the brush that gave the picture surface the appearance of a mosaic. When Derain’s works were shown alongside those of Matisse, Vlaminck and other young artists at the Salon d’Automne of 1905, they were described as fauves (wild beasts) by the critic Louis Vauxcelles (source).”

Fauvism…

These artists were just smacking that pure unadulterated brilliant colors right out of the tubes onto their canvases.  While they painted from nature as did the Impressionists, the Fauvists created art which elicited strong expressive reactions to their art.  This new way of painting did just what the Fauvists intended…it shocked visitors with the depth of the color, the violence with which the paint had been applied, and the completely different way of painting the familiar landscapes and people.  The “wild beasts,” lead by Matisse had been experimenting with different methods.  They toyed with the Post-Impressionists’ style, Gaugin, van Gogh, and Seurat, but decided to go even more three dimensional with the use of these strong colors and the movement of that color across the canvas.  Visitors as well as critics were revolted by the seemingly crude application of paint which sometimes left parts of the canvas raw.  Derain applied these pure colors with short, forceful brushstrokes (source). 

A little more

In 1906, Ambroise Vollard, a noted art dealer, sent Derain to London with a commission to paint a series of paintings with the city as the subject.  Derain produced 30 paintings (29 still exist).  His portraits of London were unlike anything anyone else had ever done.  He used bold colors and painted several landscapes of the Thames and Tower Bridge.  They are some of his most popular work.  Art critic, T. G. Rosenthal said,

“Not since Monet has anyone made London seem so fresh and yet remain quintessentially English. Some of his views of the Thames use the Pointillist technique of multiple dots, although by this time, because the dots have become much larger, it is rather more simply the separation of colours called Divisionism and it is peculiarly effective in conveying the fragmentation of colour in moving water in sunlight.” 

Still more…

In 1907, Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, an art dealer, bought all of Derain’s studio.  This gave him the financial ability to move to Montmartre near his buddy, Picasso, and to experiment with sculpting stone.  By 1908, Derain and many of the other Fauvists were beginning to turn away from Fauvism and toward Cezanne and Cubism.  Matisse, however, continued his colorful ways.  In fact, Derain began to paint in the manner of the Old Masters.  His use of bold colors had become muted, and the forms were more sober.  Strangely, in 1908, Derain destroyed almost all of his unsold work so that he could concentrate on painting landscapes in the manner of Cézanne’s Constructivism and a certain influence of the incipient Cubism of Braque and Picasso (source). The paintings Derain produced from 1911 to 1914 were part of his gothic period.  In 1914, he was back in the military during World War I and produced very little for the next five years. After the war, Derain was seen as one of the leaders of a renewed interest in classicism.  In 1919, he designed the ballet La Boutique fantasque for Diaghilev, leader of the Ballets Russes.  Due to its success, he would create many more ballet designs.  The 1920s saw even more success as he was awarded the Carnegie Prize in 1928 for Still-Life with Dead Game.  He began to travel and exhibit abroad…London, Berlin, Frankfurt, Düsseldorf, New York City, and Cincinnati, OH.

Finally…

Despite serving in two different military operations (the Commercy which I don’t understand) and World War I, Derain was branded a collaborator after World War II.  He had remined in Pairs during the war and was highly sought after by the Nazis.  They felt he gave off this essence of French culture, a certain savoir-faire.  Derain even traveled to Germany on an official visit in 1941 along with other French artists to attend an exhibition of Nazi-endorsed artist, Arno Breker.  Well, the Nazis ran with that one and used Derain’s presence as propaganda.  I wonder if he really thought about that one at all.  Of course, 1941 was still early in the war so, perhaps, he didn’t realize how damaging this visit would be.  He was ostracized by many of his former supporters.  In 1953, Derain contracted an eye infection.  He never fully recovered from it.  He died in Garches, Hauts-de-Seine, Île-de-France on September 8, 1954, after being struct by a moving vehicle.  Just this year, all of Derain’s works became public domain in the United States. 

The artwork…

The artwork is currently on display in the Audrey Jones Beck Building at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. It measures 51 × 76 3/4 in. (129.5 × 194.9 cm) unframed. With the frame, it is 58 1/4 × 84 9/16in. (148 × 214.8cm). The painting is oil on canvas and was painted in 1906. It is described this way:

André Derain’s masterpiece The Turning Road, L’Estaque is a major work of the avant-garde art movement called Fauvism. Typical of the vibrantly colorful style of fauves, French for “wild beasts,” the canvas glows with intense colors. Flame-colored trees burn red, orange, and blue. Yellow, the color of sunlight, is everywhere. This monumental landscape represents the French village of L’Estaque, where Paul Cézanne had painted earlier. The painting’s title comes from the road that curves through the scene from the lower right. Derain made his way to southern France in 1905, joining Henri Matisse in developing the essential aspects of a new style together. Their freedom from the constraints of expressing the objective world is celebrated in this image. It is a fantasy in color, a place where reality is overrun by the decorative impulse. The Turning Road, L’Estaque serves as a milestone in the brief, yet crucial art-historical movement of Fauvism, which explored the central tenet of Modernist painting: that the strength of a picture has more to do with colors and the kinds of marks made on the surface of the canvas than with serving as a window on the world (source).”

My interpretation…

My son and his significant other went to Ghana a few weeks ago. Her parents are from Ghana, and she wanted to show Jordan where her family lived. While they were there, they sent me videos, and we Facetimed a couple of times. One of the days they were there, they went to a market on the Spintex Road outside Accra (I think they went to a few, actually). They bought me this gorgeous dress called a muumuu. I thought it was perfect for this piece of art. I wondered if wearing this was cultural appropriation. My new friend (I honestly don’t know what to call her) said it wasn’t. So, I’m going with that as she is Ghanaian and bought it specifically for me. This is not, however, Kente cloth. I love the details at the neckline and will experiment with different ways to wear the dress. I’m sure I can count on my friend to help me out with that! I appreciate that she knows how much I love colors and trying new things!

The Lewk!

I honestly don’t know the name of these sandals. But, I do know they’re from L’Artiste. I added several bracelets (here, here, here, and here) from World Finds as well as these cute earrings (currently out of stock). I have to wear longer earrings so they show! I realize the sandals don’t exactly match the dress, but that’s OK with me. They don’t have to match; they just have to go. Besides, you can barely see them.

Wrap it up, Marsha!

While I don’t completely understand Fauvism, I think I get it a bit more.  I think it’s interesting how certain periods of art created such an uproar because of that “that’s just not the way we do it” mentality.  I remember reading how Impressionism was so out there and even considered a little vulgar.  Today, many people just adore Impressionism.  I will have to look to see if we have any Fauvists at IMA, and then I can express my opinion a little better.  So, can we talk?  Do you find different styles of art to be jarring or controversial?  Would you hang a piece of Fauvist art in your home?  What do you think of Derain being considered a collaborator?  Please leave me a comment or two, and we can talk. I promise to respond as quickly as I can.

Don’t forget…

If you want to be included in the Style Imitating Art round up, send me your photo by 10:00 pm EST, Tuesday, November 18th. Photos of everyone participating will appear on my blog on Wednesday, November 19th ! If you’re interested in joining us, consider all of your options…the colors, the textures, the feelings they evoke! Come on, give it a try! I think you’ll love it!

Thank you!

I want to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart for reading, commenting, subscribing or emailing! It truly means so much to me! If you’d like to follow me on Instagram, you can find me here.

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Where you can find me:

Linking up with Nancy’s Fashion Style,  Fine-Whatever, Is This Mutton, Shelbee on the Edge, Chez Mireile, Suzy Turner, and Away from the Blue as well as Deb’s World and A Fresh Cup of Coffee. I also link up with This Blonde’s Shopping Bag, Doused in Pink, I do deClaire, Mummabstylish, Style Splash and Elegantly Dressed and Stylish as well as the Senior Salon Pit Stop (Esme’s Salon) and Slices of Life. Please check out these wonderful ladies and their blogs! I also am a co-host for Ageless Style on the third Thursday of the month and Songful Style on the last Monday of the month. I co-host Traffic Jam Weekend every Thursday with Melynda, Lisa, and Sue. I also host Final Fridays on the last Friday of the month as well as 10 on the 10th on the 10th of the month! I do hope you’ll check out all of these blogs and link parties!

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