Kees van Dongen, a pivotal figure in early 20th-century avant-garde art, co-founded Fauvism and championed Expressionism. Renowned for his vivid, unblended portraits of singers, prostitutes, and celebrities, he revolutionized portraiture with bold colors that influenced numerous artists.
Born into a Dutch bourgeois family in Rotterdam on January 26, 1877, van Dongen initially worked in the family brewery before pursuing art. His early naturalistic works in neutral tones evolved drastically in Paris, where he settled in Montmartre, embraced anarchist groups, and immersed himself in avant-garde movements like Impressionism, Neo-Impressionism, and Fauvism.
Transitioning to Fauvism, van Dongen adopted a palette of intense, almost garish colors, notably in his provocative portraits of Montmartre’s prostitutes, characterized by elongated forms and exaggerated features. His approach to portraiture prioritized vibrant hues and distorted figures over psychological depth, earning him acclaim and exhibitions alongside peers like Derain, Picasso, and Matisse.
Despite early radicalism, van Dongen shifted to commissioned portraits of Parisian elites by the 1930s, focusing on formal compositions with bold colors reminiscent of Fauvism. However, his controversial acceptance of a Nazi-sponsored tour in 1941 led to his expulsion from artistic circles and the Salon d’Automne, tarnishing his legacy.
In the bohemian atmosphere of the Montmartre district, he worked as a house painter, an illustrator for satirical papers, and a café artist. Having made the acquaintance of Matisse, he participated in 1905 in the famous Salon d’Automne, at which the Fauve (Wild Beast) group was given its epithet. In 1907 he was contracted by Daniel Henry Kahnweiler, the dealer of Picasso, and his reputation grew. In 1908 he was invited to join the German Expressionist group Die Brücke (The Bridge), centred at the time in Dresden.
Van Dongen’s candid, colouristic portrait style was immensely fashionable by the end of World War 1. The figure of the thin, red-lipped, unmistakably aristocratic woman (as in Woman with Jewels, 1905) became his rather chilling archetype. His portrait of Anatole France (1917) is particulary notable. He also painted numerous richly coloured seascapes and scenes of Paris in an assured, economical style.
