View of Collioure (Vue de Collioure)
Painting on canvas • Henri Matisse (1869–1954)
Style & Movement
Fauvism
Medium & Technique
Oil on canvas using a tachiste technique with rapid, gestural brushstrokes and deliberate exposures of the white primed canvas to enhance luminosity.
Creation Period
Summer 1905
Dimensions & Format
Approx. 46 x 55 cm; Landscape format.
Subject Description
A landscape view of the Mediterranean fishing village of Collioure in the south of France. The composition features a foreground of vibrant red earth, pink-walled houses with orange roofs in the middle ground, and a blue sea meeting a lilac mountain and pale sky. The tower of the Notre-Dame-des-Anges church is a central vertical focal point.
Condition & Value Assessment
Condition Assessment
Excellent. The work is museum-grade with bright, stable pigments and a healthy canvas tension visible within the frame.
Estimated Market Value
USD 60 million – 90 million (Based on historical significance and rarity of peak Fauve-period works).
Auction Estimate
USD 50 million – 80 million
Provenance History
Purchased by the Russian collector Sergey Shchukin from the Bernheim-Jeune Gallery, Paris, in 1909. Acquired in 1948 from the State Museum of Modern Western Art; currently held in the Hermitage Museum collection.
Art Historical Significance
This is a seminal work of Fauvism, created during the famous summer in Collioure when Matisse and André Derain developed the style that would 'shock' Paris at the Salon d'Automne of 1905. It represents the liberation of color from its descriptive function.
Notable Features
Features the signature 'wild' color palette of the Fauves; visible museum wall label confirms its identity and provenance from the Shchukin collection.
Condition Issues
None visible in current display. Minor surface dust; age-appropriate stable craquelure may be present under close inspection but is not visible to the naked eye.
Conservation Recommendations
Maintain strictly controlled UV-filtered lighting and stable climate conditions (approx. 20°C, 50% RH). The ornate gilded frame appears to be a historical gallery/museum frame and should be periodically checked for structural integrity.