In the winter of 1906/07 a change can be seen in Vlaminck’s painting which closes his fauvist phase. He now largely does without bright contrasting colours, and applies his paint less thickly and rhythmically. The works created during this time show clear parallels to Cézanne in the treatment of space in particular. Cézanne, one of the founders of modernism, was an important reference point for the young fauvist artists. After his death in 1906 he was the subject of numerous retrospectives; a veritable Cézanne fever broke out in Paris.
The invention of cubism by Georges Braque und Pablo Picasso from 1908 onward put an end to fauvism. Vlaminck also embraced this new formal language, as did Derain. Along with some still lifes and landscapes, only one figural cubist portrayal by Vlaminck is known: Opium was painted in around 1910, and represents a high point in the artist’s oeuvre.
