The work of legendary French Impressionist Eugene Delacroix will be part of an exhibition at the Mohammed VI Museum of Contemporary and Modern Art in Rabat next Spring 2020. Delacroix was deeply affected by Morocco. His experience permeated several of his works, subsequent to a 6 months diplomatic trip he made to the kingdom in 1832. The mission he made has been argued to set the tone of Delacroix’s career. Delacroix produced many sketches of Tangier. His subjects were primarily local people, the city, and animals. Many of these elements were also incorporated into his later paintings: The Fanatics of Tangiers (1838), Arab Horses Fighting in a Stable (1860), The Lion Hunt (1856-1861), and Arab Saddling his Horse (1855).
The work of legendary French Impressionist Eugene Delacroix will be part of an exhibition at the Mohammed VI Museum of Contemporary and Modern Art in Rabat Spring 2020.
One of Delacroix’s most famous paintings was an oil on canvas named Jewish Wedding in Morocco (1841). The piece portrays a Jewish Wedding in the North. He painted Moorish men dressed in djellabas and turbans, an elderly Jew playing the tambourine, children, and women at the wedding. The muralist’s piece was marked by his trademark expressive brushstrokes and use of optical color effects.
The painting is on loan to Rabat’s Mohammed VI Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art from the Paris’ Louvre. The agreement was confirmed between the Louvre’s President Jean-Luc Martinez and Mehdi Qotbi, the chairman of Morocco’s National Museums Foundation (FNM). Their last exchange and collaboration took place in 2014 when the Louvre displayed an exhibit titled Medieval Morocco: An Empire from Africa to Spain. Delacroix was born in 1798. His passion for Morocco has inspired many Moroccan artists.