JACQUES MAJORELLE | Nu dans une orangerie

Jane Roberts Fine Arts, Paris

Acquired from the above by the present owner in 2015

Félix Marcilhac, Amélie Marcilhac, Jacques Majorelle (1886-1962), Paris, 2017, p. 290 no. 96, catalogued & illustrated

By the mid 1930s, Majorelle had turned from painting Morocco's vibrant kasbahs and landscapes to exploring the human figure close up, and the nude in particular. Painted circa 1940-45, Nu dans une orangerie epitomises the artist’s new approach and technique, distinguished by clear lines and the experimental use of materials. 

Recalling Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres’ iconic Grande Odalisque of 1814, Majorelle reinvents the archetypal classical nude using metallic pigments to set his model's body into relief. Following in the footsteps of his illustrious predecessors, among them Ingres, Delacroix and Gérôme, Majorelle introduced a whole new pictorial language to the genre of Orientalism, founded on the latest artistic currents and notably the work of fellow painter Henri Matisse. 

Majorelle’s first encounter with North Africa came in 1917 at the age of thirty-one. Landing at Tangiers, he was immediately captivated by the country's light, atmosphere, topography and people, and would eventually spend the rest of his life there. In an interview in 1934 Majorelle stated: ‘I want to dedicate myself now to the study of the human characters of this country not just to draw them and paint them, but to represent them'.