Matisse, Landscape at Colloiure 1905

Henri Matisse,1869-1954, was a French artist known for his use of colour.

In 1896 he was introduced to Impressionism and Van Gogh by John Russell, an Australian painter, which led to him completely changing his style. In particular, he changed his palette from earth colours to bold colours. He said Russell explained colour theory to him. Colour theory is the practical guidance to colour mixing and the visual effects of specific colour combination.

Matisse was also inspired by Cezanne's sense of pictorial structure and colour.

Matisse's fondness for bright and expressive colours became more pronounced after he spent the summer of 1904 painting in St Tropez with two neo-impressionist colleagues, one was Signac, the pointillist.

In 1905 he spent the summer with Andre Derain at Collioure in the south of France where he painted many views. His paintings at this time were characterised by flat shapes and controlled lines, while using pointillism in a less vigorous way than before.

After viewing the boldly coloured canvasses of Matisse, Derain, Vlaminck and others the critic Vauxcelles disparaged the artists by calling them painters of wild beasts (fauves) which gave the movement its name.

These Fauvists shared their first exhibition at the 1905 Salon d'Automne. While a lot negative was said about these paintings, they also did receive favourable attention.

The above painting was painted in 1905 at Collioures. It is painted in a large scale pointillist technique called Divisionism which separates the colours. The colours used are often complementary with a greater proportion of cool colours to warm colours.