Signed and inscribed lower right: J Majorelle / Marrakech

Galerie Derche, Casablanca, Morocco, "Jacques Majorelle," April 1934.

The artist; Paul-Eugéne Sombsthay, Alsace and Marrakech, acquired from the above, 1930s; Thence by descent.

Jacques Majorelle (French, 1886-1962) Nu accroupi sur une couverture, circa 1933-1934 Gouache, pastel, and metallic powders on heavy paper 24-1/2 x 20-3/4 inches (62.2 x 52.7 cm) (sight) Signed and inscribed lower right: J Majorelle / Marrakech PROVENANCE: The artist; Paul-Eugéne Sombsthay, Alsace and Marrakech, acquired from the above, 1930s; Thence by descent. EXHIBITED: Galerie Derche, Casablanca, Morocco, "Jacques Majorelle," April 1934. LITERATURE: A. Marcilhac & F. Marcilhac, Jacques Majorelle, Paris, 2017, p. 285, no. 53, illustrated in black and white. French expatriate painter Jacques Majorelle is best known for capturing the unique beauty and culture of Morocco during the early 20th century. Upon his first visit to Marrakech in 1917, he began meticulously depicting the High Atlas kasbahs and the Berber people and culture he encountered there. He settled permanently in Marrakech in the autumn of 1922, and the city continuously provided the inspiration that would consume his aesthetic pursuits for the rest of his life. Upon a ten-acre plot of land in the date palm groves on the outskirts of the city, Majorelle built a home which he affectionately called "Bou Saf Saf," a reference to the plentiful poplar trees dotting the landscape. The artist's subjects famously included bustling markets, street scenes, kasbahs, the mountainous terrain surrounding the city, and perhaps most importantly, the intriguing locals who captured his eye. In 1931, the year in which he painted the present work, Majorelle expanded his property, constructing a spacious studio where he launched a series of more intimate works. His focus shifted from public spaces to more singular images, often featuring species of exotic flora brought back from his other world travels, and which he cultivated in his extensive botanical gardens. He also turned to highly personal, intimate portraits of local Moroccan people, whom he found deeply captivating. In the early 1930s, Majorelle remarked to a journalist, "I now want to dedicate myself to the study of the people of this country, not just to draw and paint them, but to represent them." Indeed, Nu accroupi sur une couverture demonstrates the artist's desire to express in a very personal way the essence and human integrity of his subject. These 1930s figurative paintings became increasingly modern, as seen in the present work, with flatter, more graphic forms. In this example, Majorelle features a mesmerizing young beauty seated nude upon a richly hued red textile. The woman's raised knees deliberately block the viewer's gaze from the totality of her nude body, a device employed by the artist that departed, perhaps intentionally, from the ubiquitous and often exploitative nude portrayals of North African women by other Orientalist painters of the period. The artist's defense of the young woman's modesty belies his affection and even a personal respect for his subjects; though her natural beauty and exotic mystery remain the focus of the work, the viewer senses that her humanity and dignity are being conveyed in equal measure. As stated by curator Félix Marcilhac, "This series of works was in a considerably larger format than that chosen for his paintings of the Atlas. Using large-size paper, he covered it with watered-down colors that he nuanced with lively touches of the brush, mixing in metallic powders applied on top with his fingers to give them more depth. Although the backgrounds are usually only sketched in, by contrast the meticulously realistic women's bodies have an intense presence and seem to stand out from the composition where colors, shade, and light mix in a warm, gentle intensity. In the same way that he approached his first discoveries in the Atlas with the curiosity and exaltation close to that of an explorer coming upon buildings about to disappear, Majorelle approached the human body in the manner of an ethnologist conscious of seizing the ultimate moment of purity and innocence before civilization would encroach to change the natural spontaneity" (F. Marcilhac, Jacques Majorelle's Morocco, exhibition brochure, Musée Yves Saint Laurent, Marrakech, 2018). Majorelle's characteristic mixing of metallic powders with his pigments during this period, as noted by Marcilhac, is observable in the present work; the artist uses this novel approach to subtly enhance and modulate his sitter's ebony skin tone, resulting in a brilliant yet delicate visual effect. Internationally recognized as one of the premier early modernist Orientalists, Jacques Majorelle was born in Nancy, France in 1886, the son of celebrated Art Nouveau furniture designer Louis Majorelle. He spent his childhood among the designers, cabinetmakers, and craftsmen of his father's workshops, and as his artistic talents emerged, Jacques was encouraged by his father to study architecture. Majorelle instead dreamed of being a painter and pursued this passion first at the École des Beaux-Arts in Nancy, and then at the Académie Julian in Paris. By 1908, Majorelle was traveling and painting in Spain and Italy and experienced North Africa for the first time, landing in Egypt in 1910. The present work was acquired directly from the artist by Paul-Eugéne Sombsthay, a French banker from Alsace who had relocated to Morocco in the early 1910s when it came under French Protectorate. Serving as Director of the Credit Agency for the region, Sombsthay became acquainted with his fellow expatriate Majorelle, and through this friendship acquired the present work in the 1930s; it has remained in the family ever since. On the grounds of Majorelle's large villa, he planted and maintained extraordinary botanical gardens, which are now considered among the most beautiful in the world. Majorelle's choice of color for the walls of the house was as distinctive as his artwork—a bold, very intense shade of blue which he referred to as "Majorelle Blue" (fig. 1). The color was inspired by the blue tiles commonly used in southern Morocco and the astonishing, blue-washed walls of Chefchaouen, the country's celebrated "blue city." In the 1980s, legendary fashion duo Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé discovered Majorelle's garden and villa, which had fallen into disrepair and were threatened by encroaching real-estate development. The two purchased the garden and adjoining villa, and brought them back to life, restoring the garden and creating a museum of Islamic art in Majorelle's former studio. Saint Laurent and Bergé were keen art collectors and began acquiring paintings by Majorelle, culminating in a retrospective of the artist's work hosted in the new Musée Yves Saint Laurent from October 2017 to February 2018. HID12401132022 © 2024 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved

Presents very well. Very faint discoloration at upper edge of sheet, visible in upper right corner. A very few scattered small, faint dots of foxing. Otherwise, there appear to be no major condition issues affecting the work. Sheet appears to be float mounted and is framed under glass. Not examined out of frame. Framed Dimensions 29.25 X 25.5 X 1.75 Inches