Jacques MAJORELLE (Nancy 1886 - 1962)

The Kasbahs of the Atlas. Drawings and paintings enhanced with metals published under the direction of Lucien Vogel, at Jules Meynial, 30, boulevard Haussmann in Paris. Completed on October 15, 1930 at 520 copies of which twenty are numbered from I to XX. Portfolio including thirty plates in four-color process enhanced with gold and silver on cardboard, of which 21 in four-color process and 9 in offset, and the introductory text in "Auvergne à la main" paper, with binding in "Flammannam" fabrics embroidered by MM. Paul Rodier & Cie. Green parchment slipcase of the publisher, by the House Felix. The album is preceded by a letter-preface of Marshal Lyautey and an article of Pierre Mac Orlan. A map on silver and gold leaf, reproduced in double page at the beginning and at the end of the introduction, retraces the different routes taken by the artist during his forays through Morocco, from 1919 to 1930 (Rare, most often this map has disappeared due to the oxidation of the silver powder). Each plate offers a luxurious reproduction of the artist's favorite views, selected by him: sites, characters or villages of the Atlas... Our work is the number IX of the twenty copies out of trade; it was printed for Mr Godde. It is the House Godde and Chevassu which realized the edition of the plates. The typographical edition is the work of the printing house Studium. Very good condition. Boards: Height 28, Width 37 cm. Boxing: Height 40, Width 30, Depth 7 cm. Son of the cabinetmaker Louis Majorelle, Jacques Majorelle was immersed in the artistic world from his childhood and received his first training at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts de Nancy in the Architecture and Decoration section. In 1903, Jacques Majorelle emancipated himself and left for Paris where he took classes at the Schommer and Royer workshop at the Académie Julian. He completed his passion by traveling to Spain and Italy and in 1910, he discovered Egypt, which was the beginning of his passion for Africa. In 1917, he moved to Marrakech and the following year gave his first exhibition in the lobby of the Hotel Excelsior in Casablanca. In 1919, he made his first expedition to the south of the country and published Carnet de route d'un peintre dans l'Atlas et l'Anti-Atlas, a diary recounting his journey. It is between 1928 and 1929 that he realized the major part of his views of the Atlas that we find in this rare and luxurious edition of 1930. "Jacques Majorelle, by his tastes and his way of life, became himself a natural production of this winning Atlas. It is no longer he who has discovered the beyond of these high mountains, but rather it is the Atlas who has discovered his painter and who, for this reason, no longer counts with man". Pierre Mac Orlan. Bibliography : - Félix Marcilhac, "Jacques Majorelle," Paris, 1995, reproduced pp. 112-153. - Nancy, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Paris, Institut du Monde Arabe, "Jacques Majorelle-Retrospective", Paris, 1999-2000, reproduced pp. 128-129.