Landscape near Collioure. Study for "The Joy of Life"

Collioure is a historic fishing village on the French Mediterranean coast. Beautifully nestled between a rocky shore and hills with olive trees and vineyards, the village took on special significance for Henri Matisse, who came here for the first time in the summer of 1905. Living there was cheap, and the distractions were few. Shortly after his arrival, he sent a postcard to his younger friend and fellow painter André Derain: ‘I cannot insist too strongly, that a stay here is absolutely necessary for your work.’ Derain duly joined Matisse, and the two artists embarked on a range of bold painterly experiments in the village and its surroundings; this landscape painting is one example. With its strongly contrasting colours, energetic brushwork and decoratively curved lines, the painting sets itself free from the purely descriptive to instead convey a subjective experience. The pictures from Collioure attracted a great deal of attention at the Paris Autumn Salon later that year, laying the foundation for Matisse’s reputation as one of the most important pioneers of modernism (50 Favorites in the SMK Collection).