Landscape near Chatou 1904

André Derain painted "Landscape near Chatou" with oil on canvas sometime in the early 20th century. Derain, alongside Henri Matisse, was a founder of Fauvism, a movement known for its bold use of color. Painted en plein air, this landscape captures a scene just outside Paris, a space where urban and rural lives meet. The vibrant colors and simplified forms create an emotional intensity, reflecting Derain’s desire to express his subjective experience of the world rather than merely depict it. The bare trees reach up into a cool sky, offering a sense of the changing seasons and perhaps, the changing times. "Fauvism was our ordeal by fire," Derain once said, and here we see him forging a new path, where color and emotion take precedence over traditional representation. This painting offers a space to consider how we, too, can find beauty and expression in the landscapes that surround us.