Collioure - Fortress#

In the early 20th century Collioure became a center of artistic activity, with several Fauve artists making it their meeting place.

Fauvism is the style of les Fauves ("the wild beasts"), a loose group of early twentieth-century modern artists whose works emphasized painterly qualities and strong color over the representational or realistic values retained by Impressionism.

Fauvism as a style began around 1900 and continued beyond 1910.

The leaders of the movement were Henri Matisse and André Derain who lived in the town for some time.

But also, Georges Braque, Othon Friesz, Pablo Picasso, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, James Dickson Innes and Tsuguharu Fujita have all been inspired by Collioure's royal castle, medieval streets, its lighthouse converted into the church of Notre-Dame-des-Anges and its typical Mediterranean bay.