c. 1900
A chance meeting on a train: friendship with Derain
The turning point in Vlaminck's life was a chance meeting on a train to Paris towards the end of his army service: aged 23 and already active in anarchist circles in Paris, he met an aspiring artist, André Derain. Their friendship lasted a lifetime.
1900
A shared studio with Derain in Chatou
Having completed his army service in 1900, Vlaminck rented a studio with Derain, the Maison Levanneur in Chatou, next to the house of Alphonse Fournaise, in whose restaurant Monet, Sisley, Degas and Renoir had gathered thirty years earlier. A year later Derain left to do his own military service.
1901
Overwhelmed at the Van Gogh retrospective
In 1901 Vlaminck visited the Van Gogh retrospective: he wrote that his soul was “overturned by joy and despair” so that he wanted to weep, and declared that he loved Van Gogh that day more than his own father.
1905
The Salon d'Automne: the birth of the “Fauves”
In October 1905 Vlaminck exhibited at the controversial Salon d'Automne alongside Matisse, Derain, Marquet, Manguin, van Dongen, Camoin and Puy. Seeing their boldly coloured canvases, the critic Louis Vauxcelles disparaged the painters as “fauves” (wild beasts), and the name stuck to the movement.
1906
Ambroise Vollard buys his paintings
In 1906 the Paris dealer Ambroise Vollard began buying Vlaminck's paintings.
1907
First solo exhibition at Vollard's
In 1907 Vlaminck held his first exhibition at Ambroise Vollard's gallery.