Fauvism
In 1905, Henri Matisse was penniless and wanted to give his artistic career another go.
Setting off for Collioure later that year,
he was amazed by astonishing character and charm of this little historical village.
Collioure, with the sea on one side, and overlooking hillsides of terraced vineyards on the other, instantly became his main source of inspiration.
A new artistic movement emerged when artists such as Henri Matisse, André Derain, Etienne Terrus, Aristide Maillol and Daniel de Monfreid converged and exchanged ideas.
As a result, these artists completely rejected the conventions of the period, and developed a style based on strong emotions and intense colours, emphasising freedom and creativity.
They abandoned pointillism to focus fully on this artistic vision.
The artists worked together in Collioure, focusing closely on emotion and colour and creating art that would later become famous across the world.
In the autumn of that year, Henri Matisse and André Derain exhibited their work from Collioure in the Salon d'Automne in Paris.
Their paintings shocked other artists, and were the subject of intense criticism.
Louis Vauxelle spoke of the 'cage aux fauves', thus giving rise to the name 'Fauvism' to describe this use of intense colour.