Artwork App

In vivid shades of red, orange, yellow, blue, and green, a grouping of row houses sits before an open expanse of land and winding, leafless trees. Everything is multicolored and outlined in thick strokes of deep blue. A figure bends down near a path.

81.3 × 101.6 cm (32 × 40 in.)

Houses at Chatou

In reviewing the 1905 Salon d’Automne, an alternative exhibition to the official Salon, one critic likened the work of Maurice de Vlaminck, Henri Matisse, and André Derain to that of wild beasts (fauves in French). Although not intended as a criticism, others used the name to attack this new direction in avant-garde art. The Fauves were not a formally unified group, but their style was nevertheless distinct, characterized by their use of vibrant, unmixed paint and rough, spontaneous brushwork. The thick application, explosive color, and subject of Houses at Chatou—possibly one of the works included in the 1905 Salon—reveal the importance of the work of Vincent van Gogh to the Fauves.

Credit Line

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Maurice E. Culberg

Colors

Exhibition History

Paris, Grand Palais, Salon d’Automne, 3e Exposition, Oct. 18-Nov. 25, 1905, cat. 1579, as Le Jardin. Paris, Serres du Cours-la-Reine, Salon des artistes indépendants, 23e Exposition, Mar. 20–Apr. 30, 1907, cat. 4979, as Le Potager. Paris, Galerie Bing & Cie, Les Fauves 1904 à 1908, Apr. 15–30, 1927, as Les coteaux de Bougival. Paris, Galerie de la Gazette des Beaux-Arts, Les étapes de l’art contemporain: IV. Les fauves: l’Atelier Gustave Moreau, Nov.-Dec. 1934, cat. 157, as Le Potager, n.d. Paris, Jeu de Paume, Origines et développement de l’art international indépendant, July 30–Oct. 31, 1937, cat. 42, as Le potager. London, Wildenstein & Co., Exhibition of Two Contrasting Periods in the Work of Vlaminck, June 1939, cat. 3, as Le potager. New York, Sidney Janis Gallery, Les Fauves, Nov. 13–Dec. 23, 1950, cat. 36, as Houses at Chatou, 1903. New York, Museum of Modern Art, Les Fauves, Oct. 8, 1952–Jan. 4, 1953, cat. 142, as Gardens in Chatou, 1904; Minneapolis, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Jan. 21–Feb. 22, 1953; San Francisco, San Francisco Museum of Art, Mar. 13–Apr. 12, 1953; and Toronto, The Art Gallery of Toronto, May 1–31, 1953. New York, Sidney Janis Gallery, Fifth Anniversary Exhibition, Sept. 29–Oct. 31, 1953, cat. 53, as Les maisons à Chatou, 1903. Chicago, The Arts Club of Chicago, Les Fauves, Jan. 10–Feb. 15, 1956, cat. 26, as Houses at Chatou, before 1906. Toledo, OH, Toledo Museum of Art, What is Modern Art?, Mar. 6–27, 1960, no cat. Paris, Musée National d’Art Moderne, Le Fauvisme français et les débuts de l’Expressionnisme allemand, Jan. 15–Mar. 6, 1966, cat. 127, 192 (ill.), as Les Jardins à Chatou/Maisons à Chatou; Munich, Haus der Kunst, Mar. 26–May 15, 1966, as Die Gärten in Chatou/Die Häuser in Chatou. Hamburg, Kunstverein, Matisse und seine Freunde: Les Fauves, May 25-July 10, 1966, cat. 100, 79, as Gärten in Chatou, 1905. New York, Museum of Modern Art, The “Wild Beasts:” Fauvism and Its Affinities, Mar. 26–June 1, 1976, cat. 105, as Houses at Chatou, 1905-06; San Francisco, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, June 29–Aug. 15, 1976; Fort Worth, Kimbell Art Museum, Sept. 11–Oct. 31, 1976. Fort Worth, Kimbell Art Museum, The Age of Picasso and Matisse: Modern Masters from the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 6, 2013–Feb. 16, 2014, no cat. no. Potsdam, Museum Barberini, Maurice de Vlaminck: Modern Artist Rebel, Sept. 14, 2024-Jan. 12, 2025, cat. 31; Wuppertal, Von der Heydt-Museum Kunst- und Museumsverein, Feb. 16-May 18, 2025. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Matisse's Femme au chapeau: A Modern Scandal, May 16–Sept. 27, 2026, no cat. no.