Andre Derain, Charing Cross Bridge, 1906

Painted during his short trip to London in 1906, Andre Derain’s Charing Cross Bridge represents an example of a painting that captures the feeling of city life, while still heavily influenced by the artist’s expression. The painting was created during the peak of Fauvism, a short lived movement led by Henri Matisse and Andre Derain. The style of Fauvism went against all conventional methods of painting at the time, including abstract proportions, liberal use of color, and use of pointillism techniques.

Charing Cross Bridge features a glimpse of the south shores of the river Thames, with a brewery on the right and a train crossing a bridge in the center. Derain’s used contrasting colors to give the painting a noticeable pop. The left side of the river uses the orange-blue color scheme, the bulidings in the background are red-green, and the water on the right combines yellow and purple.

The influence of pointillism is obvious on the right half of the painting, evident by the short choppy brush strokes. This contrasts with the smoother brush strokes in the background. Despite the numerous contrasts, the painting still feels somewhat uniform, perhaps because of the indiscriminate use of color. The uniqueness of this take on urban life has made this work one of Andre Derain’s most famous.