Maurice de Vlaminck was a talented writer, musician and of course artist. Having grown up with two musicians as parents he effortlessly played the violin and was highly immersed in the arts which is why it is no wonder he choose to pursue an artistic career. The fascinating thing about Vlaminck's artwork is that he was purely self-taught so his art comes from a place not of admiration of masters and other artists, but of his true instinct which is why his style is often difficult to pin down.
Fauvism is the movement with which Vlaminck will always be most closely associated. However Fauvism was a brief period of creative exploration for participating artists such as Matisse and Vlaminck. Thus the evolution of his works leaned toward a style he professed to loathe, Cubism, prior to World War I. After World War I, Vlaminck settled into an Expressionistic style that he maintained for the rest of his life and what he is most famous for. As we celebrate his 139 birthday today, we honor the fact that his intuition and effortless technique was wholly his own and one that continually evolved to make it delightfully difficult for him to fit into the defined classification system of the art world that exists today.
