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London Bridge

Oil on canvas by André Derain (1906), part of the 29-canvas London series commissioned by art dealer Ambroise Vollard. Vibrant Fauvist color transforms the Thames and Tower Bridge into an electric, non-naturalistic spectacle. Now at MoMA, New York.

Scholarly Significance

Canonical Fauvist cityscape; part of Derain's Vollard-commissioned London series (1906).

Notes

  • ·Part of the London series commissioned by Ambroise Vollard in late 1905; Derain worked in London winter–spring 1906.
  • ·The series comprises approximately 29 canvases of London cityscapes and river views.
  • ·Monet's earlier Thames series (1899–1904) is an implicit reference point — Derain responds with anti-atmospheric vivid color.
  • ·The canvas depicts the view toward Tower Bridge; the bridge structure is rendered in vivid orange and green.
  • ·Contemporary critical reception was divided; Fauve critics celebrated the daring color, academic press was hostile.
  • ·After Fauvism Derain increasingly moved toward a more classical palette.