Graveson, un village de peintres

Patrie d'Auguste CHABAUD, l'un des initiateurs du fauvisme, Graveson oeuvre au développement de l'art plastique en proposant diverses animations et sites consacrés à la peinture.

The birth of Fauvism
Fall 1905, Salon d’Automne in Paris. A group of young painters influenced by the Impressionists, by Manet and the Divisionist Paul Signac, by Cezanne and Van Gogh, exhibit their works at the Salon d’Automne.
All eyes are on the Salle VII (Room 7) where critics are outraged by the exhibition of vibrantly colored canvases. “Is this a hoax? Dementia? Ignorance?!” they exclaim. A white marble statue of a young boy stands in the center of the room.
Art critic Louis Vauxcelles is appalled and cries out, pointing to the statue, “It’s Donatello among the wild beasts!” Fauvism is born (fauve = wild beast).
Although short-lived (1905-1910), Fauvism generated an impact on 20th century art which is still very present today.

Auguste Chabaud, Provençal painter
To fully understand Fauvism, consider adding a 7^th artist to the six painters who exhibited in the Salle VII. Absent from the Salon d'Automne yet definitely a Fauve through his use of bright colors, Auguste Chabaud was a pioneer and initiator of the movement, as well as a resident of Graveson.
During the 1905 Salon d'Automne, Chabaud was in Tunisia on duty for his national military service. His suspicious nature and solitary character and his stubborn refusal to be affiliated with any artistic movement make him a unique and relatively unknown “Fauve”.

Museum opened in 1992 with the support of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur Regional Council, in the spirit of promoting and protecting the heritage of Provence. This monographic museum presents a series of works by Provençal painter Auguste Chabaud, born in Nimes in 1882 and resident of Graveson until his death in 1955.