His youth was spent in Le Vesinet. At nineteen he became a champion cyclist and shortly afterwards earned his living as a violinist. At twenty he already had family responsibilities. Also passionately fond of painting, he joined Derain in 1899 and shared his studio at Chatou. Side by side they painted similar suburban motifs in a style for which Vlaminck claimed priority: "What is Fauvism? It's me. It's my manner right at this moment." On the Counter (1900, Musee Calvet, Avignon) is certainly on the borderline between Expressionism and Fauvism. The Van Gogh exhibition at Bernheim Jeune in 1901 thoroughly dazzled him. Then he met Matisse. His most intensely Fauvist period began in 1904 (Red Trees, 1906; Gardens at Chatou, 1905; The Barge, c. 1905; Le Pont de Chatou, 1905; La Maison de Chatou, 1908). He held slightly aloof from Matisse and his followers, but frequented Van Dongen and the Bateau Lavoir painters. In 1905 he took part in the Fauvist exhibition in Paris, and discovered Negro sculpture and popular imagery. His "pathetic" style soon emerged. In 1906 Vollard purchased his entire production. In 1908 he came under the influence of Cezanne: his forms became steadier, his colours deepened. The following year the Kahnweiler Gallery accepted his work-the cue for Vlaminck to diversify his themes. An instinctive and spontaneous artist, he held an Expressionist view of his own painting. His landscapes are soundly constructed in chromatic-variations ranging from blues (Le Pont de Chatou) to blacks and palest whites (The House with the Shutter, 1920). As from 1925 he lived in the country at Rueil-la-Gadeliere. At the close of his life Vlaminck's brand of Expressionism was fluent but artificial. Also a writer, he published several memoirs: Tournant dangereux (1929), Haute Folie.

Post-Impressionism, Michel-Claude Jalard, Edito Service SA, Geneva