Charles Camoin was born in Marseille on September 23, 1879, and is a Fauvist painter. He received his artistic training at the Ecole des Beaux Arts, where he was taught by Symbolist painter Gustave Moreau (1826-1898) and became friends with fellow student 10 years his senior, Henri Matisse (1869-1954).

Camoin and Matisse (together with André Derain, Maurice de Vlaminck, Albert Marquet, Georges Rouault, and Henri Manguin) were the initiators of the art movement known as Fauvism. The style of the Fauves (meaning “wild beasts”) is characterised by a frenzied use of bold colours. Further, they strived to emphasize painterly qualities instead of representational or realistic values retained by Impressionism.

Camoin and Matisse remained friends throughout their lives. Camoin even painted a portrait of Matisse, which today can be admired in the collection of the Centre Pompidou in Paris, France. Other works by Camoin are represented in the major collection of the Musée d’Art Moderne in Paris and many other regional French museums.

During the end of his life Camoin won the Italy Grand Prize in 1955 and the Legion d' Honneur, the highest award in France. He passed away in Paris at the age of 85, on May 20, 1965.