Paysage du Midi

Step into a sun-soaked corner of southern France with this lively scene by André Derain. Painted in 1906, "Paysage du Midi" comes from one of the boldest moments in modern art, when Derain and his friend Henri Matisse were busy shocking the art world with their wild use of color. Critics nicknamed them "les Fauves," meaning "the wild beasts," because their paintings looked so untamed. Here you can see why. Trees stretch upward with pink and orange trunks, the ground glows in gold and lavender, and patches of green leaves dance across the canvas in quick, energetic strokes.

What makes this style so fun is that Derain wasn't trying to copy nature exactly. Instead, he painted the feeling of a warm day in the Midi, the south of France, using colors that came straight from his imagination and emotions. Notice how the sky shifts from blue to soft pink, and how nothing is quite the "real" color it should be. That was the whole point. The Fauve movement was short-lived, lasting only a few years, but it opened the door for artists to use color freely and expressively. Look closely and you can spot the artist's signature tucked into the lower left corner, a small reminder of the man behind this burst of light and warmth.