Albert Marquet

Sale: Sotheby's, London, 31st March 1965, lot 93
Galerie Pacitti, Paris
Acquired from the above by the family of the present owner in 1972

Jean-Claude Martinet & Guy Wildenstein, Marquet: L'Afrique du Nord, Catalogue de l'œuvre peint, Paris, 2001, p. 324, no. I-437, illustrated

In 1941 Marcelle and Albert Marquet bought a house, 'Djenan Sidi Saïd', on the outskirts of Bab-el-Oued (Algeria). The artist immediately started painting his surroundings and the view from his garden. In her book Marquet. Voyages, Madame Marquet writes about the olive tree in their garden that can be seen to the left in the present work: 'I was about to forget the old olive tree, the sacred tree that guarded the house. Not far from the entrance, it seemed made to welcome the visitor. We found out later the local theory about the split in this tree, due to its age. It was said that sometimes wise men would appear out of the split to show their respects to visitors entering the house. One day our gardener saw a woman appear out of the tree, a sure sign that our protection was guaranteed' (Marcelle Marquet, Marquet. Voyages, Lausanne, 1968, p. 60).