By Nii B. Andrews.
The magnificent Mohammed VI Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMVI), was on Tuesday July 6, the venue for the inauguration of the first ever exhibition in Africa of the work of Eugene Delacroix
Titled “DELACROIX, MEMORIES OF A TRIP TO MOROCCO”; the historic exhibition is curated by Claire Bessede from the French perspective, Director of the Museum Eugene Delacroix, and by Abdelaziz El Idrissi on the Moroccan perspective; it will run until October 7, 2021.
On display are over 100 works of Delacroix, spanning a variety of mediums such as ceramics, textiles, oil canvas, and more.
The pieces have been assembled from the Eugene Delacroix National Museum, the Musée d’Orsay, the Musée Jacques-Chirac, the Musée des Arts de Bordeaux, and other museums in France including Hungary.
In concert with many artists of his generation, Delacroix had envisaged an Orient with poorly defined geographical contours.
This was fuelled by Byron’s Poems, objects and textiles brought back from travels by friends; paintings and engravings representing oriental costumes or odalisques had also fed his imagination before he made the trip of his life to Morocco in 1832.
Following his return to France, right up to his death, Delacroix never ceased to reproduce in his works the many influences brought back from his trip.
Delacroix became an exuberant exponent of the variegated light, lush colors, costumes and Moroccan traditions.
He transmitted all of these with artistic virtuosity thus providing “a pictorial universe consistent with a quality of colors and a modernity of touch that will influence artists like Matisse ”.
His paintings often exuded an uninhibited expression of energy and movement.
In his inaugural address, the president of Morocco’s National Museum Foundation, Mehdi Qotbi stated that Delacrox was “a painter who brought colors and revolutionized the artistic scene of his time”.
He further emphasized that, this exhibition, is “a source of pride” for Morocco, as well as the dynamic initiated by King Mohammed VI in the field of culture.
Delacroix, a great Romantic artist, died in 1863, leaving more than 6,000 drawings, watercolours, and prints to be sold.
His Journals are among the most penetrating of artists’ notebooks since those kept by Da Vinci.
I’ve liked Eugene Delacroix since I was 8 or 9 years old. The Death of Sardanapalus, The Lion Hunt, and many others. Good move by Morocco as the setting for some of his powerful paintings.