In André Derain, Young Paris pays tribute to the single African mask that forever altered the course of modern art. The work references the famed Fang mask that once sat in Derain’s Paris studio, the same mask that captivated Picasso and Matisse and ultimately ignited what Europe would call “Primitivism.” From that moment, African abstraction became the silent foundation of a revolution in Western art.

Paris reclaims this pivotal object not as a footnote to European modernism, but as the true source of its innovation. Against a refined powdered blue damask backdrop, the mask stands alone, regal, mysterious, and world-shifting; reminding the viewer that what was once dismissed as “primitive” was in fact visionary.

Through André Derain, Paris invites us to confront the irony and legacy of appropriation: how one African mask inspired giants, birthed movements, and reshaped visual language across the world, yet its origins remained obscured. This painting restores that balance, honoring the mask, the unnamed artist who made it, and the continent whose genius sparked modern art itself.