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Jacques Majorelle (1886-1962) : catalogue of work
The son of the Nancy cabinet-maker Louis Majorelle, the painter Jacques Majorelle (1886-1962) was a key figure of orientalism. Discovering Marrakech in 1917, he was as fascinated by the city's light and brilliant colours as by its inhabitants. He first moved into the Bou Saf Saf villa, then into the cubist villa designed by the architect Paul Sinoir, which now houses the Pierre Bergé Museum of Berber Arts of the Fondation Jardin Majorelle.
For nearly 40 years, he tirelessly painted the different ambiances of souks, scenes from daily life or the singular beauty of the models who posed in his studio. His many trips through the kasbahs of the Atlas and the other cities of Morocco allowed him to recreate all the richness of the landscapes, architectures and markets, or ceremonies of which he was the privileged onlooker. In the 1940s, his discovery of sub-Saharan Africa gave rise to an aesthetic and chromatic renewal that accompanied his entire body of work through to his last creations.
