Émilie Charmy - The Female Fauve : Émilie Charmy

Connaught Brown is delighted to present an exhibition of paintings by Émilie Charmy, a revolutionary artist who broke into the male dominated circles of 20^th century avant-garde painting in Paris. Her intense colour palette, vivid brushwork, and controversial subject matter transcended what was believed to be ‘feminine art’.

Charmy’s artistic career truly began upon moving to Lyon. It was there that she had her first foray into developing her passion into a profession and pushed against the norms of what was traditionally expected from a woman.

Charmy’s early works, such as La Loge (c.1900), reveal her artistic ambition and refusal to be confined to a ‘feminine’ subject matter. The painting depicts multiple nudes within an interior, a subject that was only considered acceptable for male artists at the time. Charmy paints her nudes without detail, alluding to their nakedness, and the brothel, disturbing the boundaries of what was suitable for a woman to paint whilst not yet being as frank as in her later nudes.

In contrast, the still life was considered proper subject matter for women. Created in 1902, the year before her move to Paris, Bouquet de Fleurs  reveals Charmy’s early approach to flower painting. It follows the tradition of her Impressionist predecessors by highlighting the two dimensionality of a painting through its surface and use of a traditional colour palette. 

Charmy’s 1903 move to Paris was a crucial moment for her practice. Surrounded by the pioneers of Modernism she experimented with the latest artistic developments. In her 1904 Fleurs et Fruits  vibrant colour dominates. The decorative pattern on the vase and wallpaper echo that of Japanese woodblock prints which were highly influential on many artists in Paris at this time. By building upon these progressive influences Charmy challenges the notion of floral painting being a ‘safe’ and feminine domain, repurposing the subject matter with avant-garde style and handling.

The year after painting Fleurs et Fruits Charmy exhibited two still lifes at the seminal 1905 Salon d’Automne. Fauvism coined its name from Louis Vauxcelles’ description of the group, which included Matisse, Vlaminck and Derain, as ‘les fauves’ or ‘wild beasts’ upon seeing their daring use of colour in the Salon. It was also Vauxcelles who in 1921 described Charmy as “one of the most remarkable women [artists] of our time”. Viewed as the epitome of the ‘New Woman’ Charmy broke into the male dominated circle of fauvism, exhibiting side by side with her male counterparts such as Matisse, Camoin and Vlaminck.

It was during these early Parisian years that Charmy began a relationship with Charles Camoin. Supporting each other’s artistic endeavours, in 1905 Camoin painted Artist in Her Studio (1905, Dallas Museum of Art). Depicting Charmy at work, Camoin places Charmy’s artistry not gender at the forefront, asserting her position as a Fauve artist.

By 1910 Charmy had been included in several solo and group exhibitions in Paris and had joined Berthe Weill’s stable of artists.  Charmy’s relationship with Weill was of great importance. Weill placed her paintings alongside other leading painters of the day. Weill also supported other female artists such as Marie Laurencin and Suzanne Valadon, but Charmy stood in a unique position as the only female Fauve. 

Becoming bolder in her style, Charmy’s landscapes of the early 1910s maintain their strong fauvist manner. In 1913, her relationship with Camoin had come to an end and she began a relationship with another artist, George Bouche, who owned a home in the village of Marnat. She painted numerous landscapes of this idyllic setting - such as La barriere à Marnat and Marnat. The place became somewhat of a retreat for her and her artistic circle. Charmy’s paintings of Marnat are quite intimate, revealing her personal view of the landscape. Simplified forms and luscious greens and blue dictate these paintings which celebrate nature.