The Turning Road, l'Estaque

A road curves through a stand of trees, passing buildings and small figures along the way, with foliage painted in bright reds, yellows, blues, and greens that override any naturalistic color. The scene unfolds with an almost electric charge, as though sunlight and shadow had been replaced by pure pigment. This oil painting, titled The Turning Road, l'Estaque, was created in 1906 and now belongs to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, having entered the collection as a gift from Audrey Jones Beck. André Derain (1880–1954) worked within Fauvism, a movement defined by its bold, non-naturalistic use of color. Looking closely, the vegetation along the bend seems to pulse with layered strokes of contrasting hues, giving the whole path a sense of motion and heat.