COPENHAGEN, DENMARK.- Statens Museum for Kunst presents André Derain. An Outsider in French Art, on view through May 13, 2007. André Derain (1880-1954) stands alongside his close colleagues Matisse and Picasso as one of the most revolutionising re-inventors of painting to arise in the first half of the 20th century. Having spent decades delegated to the deepest, most overlooked shadows of art history, Derain's life's work is now once again fully unfurled. This spring, Statens Museum for Kunst is one of the first museums in the world to present a large retrospective about the controversial and epoch-defining master painter who fell out of favour. The museum supplements its own important paintings by Derain with significant loans from museums such as the Tate Modern (London), the Centre Pompidou (Paris), the National Gallery of Art (Washington), the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York) and the MoMA (New York), bringing up the total number of exhibits to more than 80.

The shocking start - The exhibition takes its point of departure in the years around André Derain's breakthrough in 1905, a year that would also become a milestone within recent art history. That was the year when Derain joined forces with his friend Matisse to create Fauvism, a vein of art that attracted plenty of attention from the start. The bold liberation of colour on the canvas and the highly insistent accentuation of the painterly aspects of their art constituted a marked break with audiences' expectations. What the shocked contemporaries viewed as rampant barbarism would, however, provide crucial inspiration for subsequent generations of artists. Even so, a sense of restlessness and doubts soon assailed Derain. During the years after his breakthrough, his art shows an interest in experimenting with Primitivism, with the legacy of Cezanne, and with a simplification of form; all of which leads him to Cubism. His art moves away from the optimistic colours that previously held such an all-dominant position towards a stringe ncy of shape and colour which, particularly in his figure compositions, has a disturbing, alienating feel.

"Among the last fools..." - World War I abruptly interrupted Derain's artistic growth at a crucial stage. Like his kindred spirits Vlaminck, Apollinaire, Léger, and Braque, Derain had to don a soldier's uniform in 1914. He took part in some of the bloodiest battles of the war and survived, even with distinction. There is, however, no mistaking his nausea at the meaninglessness of war. "Do not think that this duty, that having been counted among the last fools for four years, makes any sense to me," he said in a letter to his mother in 1918. The following year he returned to Paris, a broken man. To his great puzzlement, however, interest in his art was steadily growing.

The late experiments - During the 1920s Derain was one of the most celebrated and respected artists of the day. His sales even exceeded those of Matisse at this time. But Derain did not rest on his laurels; nor did he even enjoy his success. The war had left an indelible mark on his life and his art. With an unfailing curiosity and almost chronic critical attitude towards himself, he continued to explore new artistic avenues. The exhibition presents a range of remarkable works which demonstrate how Derain moved towards a more classically oriented mode of expression. His subject matters became more sculptural in scope, his palette more restrained than in earlier works. Nevertheless, their consistent originality serves only to confirm the image of Derain as an uncompromising, unique figure within French art.

Falling from grace - In contrast to responses to Picasso, Derain's changing styles and ceaseless artistic search was met with suspicion by his contemporaries - and by some among subsequent generations. Part of the reason for this suspicion rests on the fact that during World War II, Derain accepted an invitation from Nazi Germany, hoping to aid fellow artists in Germany. The decision was naïve and proved disastrous. Derain fell out of favour almost everywhere and withdrew from public life. Only in recent years have we witnessed an international resurgence in the interest in his art.

The exhibition "ANDRÉ DERAIN. An Outsider in French Art" was curated in co-operation with the Vice Director of the Centre Pompidou in Paris, Isabelle Monod-Fontaine, one of the world's leading experts on early French modernism.

Exhibition accompanied by book - To tie in with the exhibition, Statens Museum for Kunst publishes a large, lavishly illustrated book about the life and works of Derain and the unique collection of Derain's works at Statens Museum for Kunst. The articles have been contributed by Isabelle Monod-Fontaine, Gertrud Købke Sutton, Rikke Warming and Dorthe Aagesen, Sibylle Pieyre de Mandiargues, and Anna Schram Vejlby. 264 pages Price: DKK 299. ISBN 87 90096 91 6. The exhibition was donated by the Oticon Foundation.