The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07.
Derain, André
(äNdr´ drN´) (KEY) , 18801954, French painter. He studied for a short time under Carrière. Derains friendship with Vlaminck and Matisse led to his association c.1905 with the fauves. Forceful in his application of pure, bright patches of color, he was for a while prominent as an exponent of fauvism. His portrait of Matisse (1905; Philadelphia Mus. of Art) is a characteristic fauvist composition. Early in his career, however, Derain revealed a tendency toward an architectonic arrangement of forms, and his art gradually assumed a more conservative expression. He was influenced by African art and the work of French and Italian primitives. Derain is well represented in American collections, including the Lyman Allyn Museum, New London, Conn., and the Art Institute, Chicago.