1879-1965
Charles Camoin was a French painter best remembered for his contributions to the Fauvist movement alongside artists like Henri Matisse, André Derain, Albert Marquet, and others. Widely celebrated in his country, Camoin’s colorful paintings utilize feathery brushstrokes, nuanced pastel palettes, and elaborations on light conditions and atmosphere, all of which also link him to the aesthetic tenants of Impressionists like Pierre-Auguste Renoir.
He became particularly fascinated by the technique of plein-air painting, and sought to capture the interplay of light and color during fleeting moments of sunshine, as evidenced in bold paintings like View of Capri (1904). Born on September 23, 1879 in Marseille, France, he went on to study under the famed painter and teacher Gustave Moreau at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where he befriended Matisse. They maintained a lifelong friendship, with Camoin often joining Matisse in traveling to the south of France—excursions which had a profound impact on both artists’ aesthetics and practices.
An important figure in the history of Modern Art, Camoin was awarded with the title of Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters in 1959. Today, his works are featured in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nice, the Center Georges Pompidou in Paris, and the Dallas Museum of Art, among others. Camoin died on May 20, 1965 in Paris, France.
