In 1908, whilst back in Paris, Hunter met Alice Toklas, whom he had known previously in San Francisco. She took him to see the art collection at 27 rue de Fleurus, that was being started by Gertrude Stein and her brother Leo Stein. The collection included wildly-coloured Fauve works by Matisse, and early works by Picasso. Toklas wrote that the pictures shocked Hunter profoundly, and he wished he had never gone to see the them. Nevertheless his consciousness had been jolted.