Fascinated by antiquity and literature,the young Andre Derain spent a lot of time at the Louvre,
where he used to make copies of ancient works.He met Henri Matisse there,and later Maurice de Vlaminck,and all three became founders of the Fauvist movement in 1905.But the character of Derain was complex,and his style evolved with him.His work was alternately influenced by cubism and African art,before he turned to more muted color and returned to a more "academic" production.
In the 1940s he created the wax model for his jewelry Faune,Cretoise,and Masque,jewlery which he made as a present for his wife.He entrusted its production to his friend,the goldsmith Francois Hugo at whose marriage he had been witness.All in all,ten pendants and brooches were made in twenty-three-caret gold,then hand-hammered in a steel die.Each modle was slightly different as a result of this technigue.They are geometrical heads with jagged edges,char acteristic of the double influence of cumbism and archaeology in the artist's work. Derain then turned to making "portable sculptures. Recuperating the lead from his tubes of paint,he molded it into the shape of lips,the St. Andrew's cross and even a pair of buttocks.