Jacques Majorelle Paintings

Jacques Majorelle was a French painter best known for his Orientalist images and particularly for the Majorelle Garden in Marrakech, Morocco, which he created. Born in Nancy, France, on March 7, 1886, to the famous Art Nouveau furniture designer Louis Majorelle, Jacques was exposed to art and design from a young age. He studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Nancy and later in Paris, before traveling extensively in Spain, Egypt, and Italy. Majorelle settled in Marrakech in 1919, where he was captivated by the light and color of North Africa. He purchased land and began creating the Majorelle Garden, an extensive and elaborate garden filled with exotic plants, water features, and vibrant blue structures, inspired by the traditional Berber color and later named 'Majorelle Blue'. His garden would eventually become his greatest legacy, a place of artistic synthesis and botanical significance. Throughout his career, Jacques Majorelle painted prolifically, producing works that depicted the daily life, architecture, and landscapes of Morocco. His paintings are characterized by their bold, vivid colors and a sense of luminosity that captures the essence of the Moroccan sun and shadows. Despite the success of his work, Majorelle lived beyond his means, and by the time of his death in Casablanca on October 15, 1962, his financial situation had declined. Today, the Majorelle Garden is maintained by the Fondation Pierre Bergé – Yves Saint Laurent and continues to be a major tourist attraction in Marrakech.