the multidisciplinary auction house based in Paris, “Artcurial”, organized, this Friday, December 30, an auction which focused on a total of 150 works by Moroccan, African and international artists, within the framework of the 4th edition of A Moroccan Winter.
These works were exhibited for four days (current December 27-30) on the walls of the Mamounia in Marrakech, and also visible on the online version, before their auction.
During these four days, members of the Artcurial sales office were made available to collectors and lovers of works of art to provide them with all the information on the lots of interest to them.
These works put up for sale were initially exhibited publicly, at the Venice Framework Gallery in Casablanca, with a view to “broadening the overall vision of the sale and having a real picture of the market through the various interactions”.
This auction was broadcast live online in order to allow “bidders” who cannot travel to follow this sale and bid online in real time at the same time as the bidders in the room or on the telephone.
The 4th edition of Un Hiver Marocain honored the French artist, Jacques Majorelle on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of his death, because this painter is undoubtedly the one who has best represented the ocher city for 80 years. and contributed to its international influence, he added, noting that the works of Jacques Majorelle are accompanied by European and Moroccan artists influenced by his style.
An unmissable event for art lovers, the 4th edition of A Moroccan Winter was once again divided into three chapters “Majorelle and its Contemporaries”, “Modern and Contemporary Moroccan and International Art” and “Contemporary African Art”.
With regard to the chapter “Majorelle and his Contemporaries”, this prestigious session offered amateurs and collectors of artistic works a set of “exceptional” and “unpublished” works by this French painter, on the occasion of the 60 years of his disappearance.
Artcurial Maroc has brought together on this occasion, a set of exceptional works by this master, lover of light and Africa, painter of kasbahs and famous black nudes, whose work still remains a reference and a timeless source of inspiration.
Thus, this auction has offered for sale two works made by Majorelle and which are the inspiration for his first trip to Egypt.
These are the Portrait of an Egyptian, produced in the years 1933-1934, and the sculptural and sensual work Harmony in Black, belonging to a major chapter in the painter’s work, that known as the “Black Nudes”, which begins in 1931.
This session also offered works from the same period, with the setting inspired by the verdant gardens of his villa in Marrakech.
In this same chapter were also offered for sale four works by Eugène Girardet, five works by Etienne Dinet, a set by Edy Legrand, as well as José Cruz-Herrera and Rudolf Ernst.
As for the chapter “Moroccan and International Modern and Contemporary Art”, the big names in modern Moroccan painting were represented, including works by Gharbaoui, Melehi, Cherkaoui, Glaoui and Rabi.
Curated by Mehdi Hadj Khalifa, a contemporary selection honored works by Daifallah, Bourouissa, Iqbi or even Selfati, Fatmi, Yamou.
Other works by artists from the North African and Middle Eastern scene were offered for sale, including a work by Baya, works by the Lebanese painter Shafic Abboud. International modern and contemporary art was also represented with works by Combas, Chagall and JonOne.
The African chapter of the sale (“Art Contemporain Africain”) has put up for sale a painting by the painter Aboudia. The nods to Western culture, a favorite theme of many African artists, have been introduced through the works of Congolese artists Tsham and Nigerian Olamilekan Abatan.
Two tapestries by the Angolan artist Ana Silva noticed at the Dakar Biennale were also offered during this auction.
It should be noted that the previous sales session of A Moroccan Winter, organized by Artcurial Morocco at the La Mamounia hotel, duplex with Paris, was a great success totaling 34 million MAD (MDH) / 3.17 M€ including fees .