Charles Camoin

French, 1879-1965

Charles Camoin was a French painter and founding member of the Fauves, noted for work that balanced vibrant color with compositional restraint. Born in Marseille, he began studies in business alongside courses at the École des Beaux-Arts there. Camoin then moved to Paris and quickly joined Gustave Moreau’s studio, becoming friends with Henri Matisse, Albert Marquet, Henri Manguin, and others.

Camoin exhibited early with the Salon des Indépendants and the Salon d’Automne, and in 1905 he took part in the famous Salon d’Automne “Cage aux Fauves,” a landmark moment in modern French painting. Though his Fauvist peers often pushed color to extreme intensity, Camoin’s palette was more moderated; his time in places like Aix-en-Provence, Cassis, Saint-Tropez, and Morocco brought together sunlit landscapes, expressive brushwork, and an interest in the effects of light and atmosphere.

Over decades of his career he worked in multiple genres with recurrent motifs such as Mediterranean ports and figures bathed in southern light. Camoin’s paintings are held in major collections, and he is remembered both for his role in the Fauvist beginnings and for his mature style. He maintained expressive color while embracing form, beauty, and harmony between subject and sensation.