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Jacques Majorelle
Jacques Majorelle was born in 1886 within a family of
artists. His father, Louis Majorelle, celebrate cabinetmaker
of Nancy, give him the opportunity to enter in the middle
closed of the artists of the time. Guided by the friends of
this one he enters then to Fine Arts of Nancy in 1901, then
to the Julian Paris Academy. Trained by the fashion of the "easel
in the nature", he is initially inspired by Brittany. It is
in Spain, where he goes to look after a tuberculosis , that
he discovers his passion for the south. Thus,
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he develops at the heart of the Mediterranean a very
particular vision, retiring of the classic presentations, to
encourage quick tones of the fauvism, the simple shapes, and
the original topics. Since 1910 he discovers Egypt and the
Nile. He visits the orient with a new look, deprived of all
orientalist fantasies. In 1919 Jacques Majorelle settles in
the medina of Marrakech where he frequents the French upper
middle class. Scholarly lover of the souks aesthetic, he
captures in his pictures light, the colors,
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the
nuances of the daily life. This traveler
painter was attracted by the berber regions
of the Atlas authenticity. The geometry sorb
of the villages and the kasbahs of clay also
fascinated him. The south of Morocco occupied a big part
of his existence, whereas it would have been able to limit
himself to social life surrounding the marshal
Lyautey, big fun of his works.
Beside his canvasses, Majorelle achieved some
posters in the promotion of tourism in
Morocco, and he took part in the decoration of the
Mamounia hotel in Marrakech. Between 1945 and 1952
the quest of beauty brought him to discover the black
Africa (Sudan, Guinea, the Ivory Coast, Niger and
Senegal), where he carries out a set of canvasses of
glaring contrasts, showing a great creativity as well on
the level of the techniques used as of the treated topics. |
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The creation of
Majorelle Garden
Nevertheless, Jacques Majorelle always came
back in the haven of peace that he constructed in 1924 in
border of palm grove in Marrakech. His main residence,
currently private property of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre
Bergé, was created in the image of Marrakech
palaces: architectural simplicity, games of water and lush
vegetation. In 1931, the architect Paul Sinoir
conceived the blue workshop, nowadays seat of the Islamic
art museum. Majorelle rushed then in the
creation of a botanical garden and brought plants from the
whole world: cactus, yucas, water lilies,
jasmines, bougainvilleas… This small paradise initially
place of inspiration and rest is open to the public since
1947. following a car accident Jacques
Majorelle went back to France where he died in 1962.
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A new area
After Majorelle’s disappearance, the garden remained
open to the public and underwent strong
deteriorations. In 1980 Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre
Bergé, until there visitors and admirers
of the Majorelle garden, repurchased it,
thus saving it real speculations which devastated the
inheritance of Marrakech gardens. Work of restoration
starts then, that lead in January 2001 to the creation
of the safeguard and the radiance of the
Majorelle garden association, assuring its
everlastingness thus, a discreet patronage of Pierre
Bergé et Yves Saint Laurent guaranteed
the flight and the good working of the garden until
the association becomes autonomous.
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