Sculpture
Aristide Maillol - 1861-1944
Born in Banyuls-sur-Mer, the greatest sculptor of the 20th century never ceased to celebrate the beauty and grace of the female body through forms of great simplicity. The models from whom he drew his inspiration were the young girls in flower in his village. His nudes are exhibited in Banyuls, Perpignan, Céret, but also in ParisCélestin Manalt - 1867 - 1942
Born in Perpignan, this all-rounder of genius, yet unknown to the general public, was an upholsterer, a violin maker, then a violinist before devoting himself to sculpture. His works called: the Doubt, the Effort, the Prostitute, the Beggar, the Child with cymbals, the Man of the earth or the Cellist are exposed in the streets of Perpignan, in the square Bir-Hakeim or on the promenade of plane trees.Paint
Hyacinthe Rigaud 1659-1743
Official painter of Louis XIV and then Louis XV, and portraitist par excellence of the European elites, he painted La Fontaine, Boileau, Racine, Vauban, Bossuet... Many of his paintings are exhibited in the museum that bears his name in the heart of old PerpignanHenri Matisse and André Derain: Fauvism
They are not Catalans, but the famous and daring pictorial movement they created was born in the Catalan country. During the summer of 1905, Matisse and Derain stayed and worked together in Collioure in a golden light that erased shadows. They began to use complementary colours applied in broad, energetic strokes, seeking an equivalent of light rather than its exact rendition. The Fauves rejected the impressionist palette of soft, shimmering tones for pure, vivid colours. "There is no bluer sky in France than that of Collioure... I only have to close the shutters of my room and I have all the colours of the Mediterranean at home" (Henri Matisse).Salvador Dali 1904-1989
The illustrious painter born in Figuères and his phantasmagorical literary flights of fancy which earned him this cabalistic analysis of the Perpignan train station as the metaphysical centre of the world. And what the divine Dali said, as he liked to call himself, could not be questioned. His museum which is entirely dedicated to him in Figuères is not to be missed.
