This monumental painting by the Fauvist painter, Henri Matisse (1869-1954) depicts five figures inspired by classical Greek art joining hands in a wild whirling dance. Using just three colors, Matisse creates a eye-captivating scene that is quite unforgettable. The spare colors and the primitively-drawn figures evoke a sense of raw energy.

The Dance was painted at the height of Fauvism. Fauvism was the earliest and among the briefest of the European avant-garde art movements of the 20^th century, peaking between 1905 and 1907. The “Fauves” were derided by art critics as “Wild Beasts” due to their aggressive brushwork, lack of nuance and their non-naturalistic use of color. Matisse was the unofficial leader of this strident movement which included Andre Derain, Maurice de Vladminck and Raoul Dufy. By liberating color from realism and radically distorting pictorial space, Fauvism was a reaction to the social and technological upheavals of the early 20^th century brought about by industrialization that upended the domesticity of the rural lifestyle. Despite its brief duration, the art of Matisse and other Fauvists paved the way for radical innovations in Western art such as Cubism and Abstract Expressionism.