French Fauve, 'wild beast' movement in modern French painting is characterized by the use of
very bold, vivid colours.

The name is a reference to the fact that the works seemed to many people at the time to be crude and untamed. 

It was the first of the artistic movements that transformed European art between the turn of the century and World War I.

Their work given the name Fauves by the critic Louis Vauxcelles (who also coined the term Cubism). 

Seeing a Renaissance-like sculpture incongruously placed in the same room, Vauxcelles remarked 'Donatello aux milieu des Fauves' ('Donatello among the wild beasts'). 

Many other comments on the Fauves' work at this exhibition were equally uncomplimentary; one critic accused them of 'flinging a pot of paint in the face of the public'.