On December 30, the Artcurial Maroc house will organize in Marrakech the 5th edition of the “Un Winter Marocain” event sale at La Mamounia, the unmissable event for art lovers.
A press release from Artcurial Maroc specifies that this sale is divided into three chapters, namely Majorelle & ses Contemporains which will unveil works by artists such as Dinet, Ackein, Boutet de Monvel or even Roubtzoff, the Modern & Contemporary Art chapter, which will present artists who have marked the twentieth century, in Morocco and around the world: Chaïbia, Melehi, Gharbaoui or El Glaoui as well as Chagall, Picasso, Matisse or Miró and Contemporary African Art who will present a selection of established modern artists and the contemporary scene.
Currently on display in the Mohammed VI Museum in Rabat, photographs of Malick Sidibé and Seydou Keïta will be offered for sale, said the same source, which notes that the exhibition at the Mamounia in Marrakech will take place from December 26 to 30, day of the auction.
For Olivier Berman, director of Artcurial Maroc, quoted in the press release, “we are very happy to come back to this magnificent setting that is the Mamounia for this new session of a Moroccan Winter. For Majorelle and his contemporaries, this session will unveil rare and historical works by Boutet de Monvel, Ackein, Dinet and Majorelle ”.
And to add: “Modern and contemporary art brings together artists from different horizons in a single catalog. They are Moroccans such as Chaïbia and Melehi, Africans like Aboudia or Sidibé and finally Chagall, Picasso, Matisse and Miró. They are for the first time presented in an auction in Morocco ”.
And to underline that this event “consolidates” the place occupied by Marrakech today on the art market.
Majorelle & its Contemporaries
In December 2019, for its inaugural sale, Artcurial Maroc landed a record auction in Morocco: The son of a Saint M’rabeth, by Etienne Dinet was awarded 1.2 M € / 13.2 MAD including fees.
Among the eighty lots that make up this sale, five works by Jacques Majorelle will be offered, including an oil from 1920, entitled Black covers is estimated at 58,000 – 78,000 € / 600,000 – 800,000 MAD.
An exceptional and extremely rare View of Fez, 6 hours by Boutet de Monvel, (250,000 – 350,000 € / 2,500,000 – 3,500,000 MAD).
Five works by Etienne Dinet are on offer including, Fillettes dansant, (270,000 – 360,000 € / 2,900,000 – 3,900,000 MAD).
An important painting, Souk au Tapis, 1921 by Marcelle Ackein, (100,000 – 150,000 € / 1,100,000 – 1,650,000 MAD) Rahmouna, by Roubtzoff is estimated at 40,000 – 60,000 € / 440,000 – 660,000 MAD.
Works by Bridgman, Herrera, Legrand, Girardet and Washington will also be on sale.
Modern & Contemporary Art
During this sale, the press release continues, works by Moroccan artists, from private collections of the kingdom, will be put on sale, such as Gharbaoui (27,000 – 34,000 € / 280,000- 350,000 MAD) or even Chaïbia (32,000 – 42,000 € / 350,000 – 450,000 MAD).
A historical work by Melehi – base of the School of Fine Arts in Casablanca – dating from 1970, a crucial year in the artist’s work, will be part of the sale. Its Composition is estimated at 95,000 – 145,000 € / 1,000,000 – 1,500,000 MAD. The Flame, symbolic work of an extremely rare size (2.30 meters by 1.70 meters), is estimated at 95,000 – 145,000 € / 1,000,000 – 1,500,000 MAD.
Other Moroccan artists will be present, such as Demnati, Yacoubi, Ben Dahman, Fatmi…
The sale will feature exceptional works of international modern art. As the centerpiece of the sale, the oil on canvas by Marc Chagall, The Lovers in the Green Square, is estimated at 1,300,000 – 1,600,000 € / 13,200,000-16,500,000 MAD. The painter describes color as “a ray of freedom, source and foundation of art”. He creates this work in shimmering colors, entrusted to Artcurial Maroc by an American collector with Moroccan roots.
The ink on paper, the extended Odalisque by Henri Matisse is estimated at 150,000 – 200,000 € / 1,700,000 – 2,200,000 MAD. “The odalisques, I saw them in Morocco, which allows me to paint them now for real …” Henri Matisse.
A watercolor, gouache and ink on paper by Joan Miró is estimated at 110,000 – 140,000 € / 1,200,000 – 1,500,000 MAD.
A large ink and pen on paper, (50.70 x 65.80 cm) by Pablo Picasso, Knight and picador in the arena, estimated at 200,000 – 300,000 € / 2,200,000 – 3,300,000 MAD, occupies a major place in this sale.
Contemporary African Art
The section dedicated to contemporary African art in the sale will showcase modern artists currently popular with private and institutional collectors. A large work by Pilipili (estimated 130,000 / 190,000 MAD), an emblematic artist of the Hangar, an art center created in the Congo, whose dreamlike representations of nature recently packed auctions in Paris will be offered for sale.
An exceptional “Seattle” tower by Bodys model maker Isek Kingelez, whose afro-futuristic dreams that take shape in the form of pop cities out of his imagination have been consecrated by exhibitions at the Louis Vuitton Foundation, the Cartier Foundation and the Museum of Modern Art from New York (one of the very first monographic exhibitions for an African artist), will also be presented.
The emerging African scene of artists sought after by Moroccan collectors will be represented. We will find the essential Aboudia, which lives between Abidjan and Brooklyn and whose prices have followed a meteoric trajectory for a few months in the United States. A work in mixed technique, collage and cardboard will be offered at an attractive estimate of (330,000 – 550,000 MAD) alongside works on paper. Several artists from East Africa will be presented including a large “Breughel” scene by Kenyan Joseph Bertiers, a canvas by Ugandan Arim Andrew and a work on paper by Tsham.
In order to pay tribute to female artists, particularly active and in demand on the African contemporary art market, two textile works by Angolan artist Ana Silva and her compatriot Keyezua will be presented, as well as works by Adjaratou Ouédraogo and Lizette Chirrine. and Joana Chomali ..
Finally, the section will close with the emblematic photos of Malian artists Malick Sidibé and Seydou Keïta, adds the document which specifies that during this sale event, Artcurial Maroc is happy to accompany and support the Chourouk association.
Works by contemporary Moroccan artists: Rabi ‘, Belamine, El Baz, Yamou, Binebine, Hajjaj, Zemmouri, Boujemaoui, Mourabiti, Cherkaoui, Belbzioui, Bouhchichi and Erruas, will be sold; the totality of the adjudication will be paid to the Chourouk association, in favor of the construction of a nursery school in Tahenaout, near Marrakech.
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