Hassan El Glaoui (1923–2018) was a Moroccan figurative painter best known for his depictions of fantasia horsemen.

Early life

El Glaoui was born in

Marrakesh, Morocco Marrakesh or Marrakech ( or ; ar, مراكش, murrākuš, ; ber, ⵎⵕⵕⴰⴽⵛ, translit=mṛṛakc}) is the fourth largest city in the Kingdom of Morocco. It is one of the four Imperial cities of Morocco and is the capital of the Marrak ...

, on December 23, 1923, to the last

Pasha Pasha, Pacha or Paşa ( ota, پاشا; tr, paşa; sq, Pashë; ar, باشا), in older works sometimes anglicized as bashaw, was a higher rank in the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman political and military system, typically granted to governors, gener ...

of Marrakesh,

Thami El Glaoui Thami El Glaoui ( ar, التهامي الكلاوي; 1879–23 January 1956) was the Pasha of Marrakesh from 1912 to 1956. His family name was el Mezouari, from a title given an ancestor by Ismail Ibn Sharif in 1700, while El Glaoui refers to his ...

. The artist credited British Prime Minister

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

with convincing his powerful father to let him pursue painting as a career, particularly after a 1943 meeting when the Pasha sought and received Churchill's opinion of his son's paintings.

Career

In 1950 actor

Edward G. Robinson Edward G. Robinson (born Emanuel Goldenberg; December 12, 1893January 26, 1973) was a Romanian-American actor of stage and screen, who was popular during the Hollywood's Golden Age. He appeared in 30 Broadway plays and more than 100 films duri ...

, his wife Gladys Lloydand Robison (art collector and a painter) and Sir

Anson Goodyear Anson Conger Goodyear (June 20, 1877 – April 24, 1964) was an American manufacturer, businessman, author, and philanthropist and member of the Goodyear family. He is best known as one of the founding members and first president of the Museum of ...

(one of the founders of the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

in New York) were invited by their friend and politician

to Marrakesh. During their short trip to Morocco, they had the pleasure to meet with Hassan and seeing some of his work. Impressed by the talent of the young artist, they convinced the Pacha to let him present in Paris and New York in 1951 for the first time alongside Gladys Lloydand Robison's paintings. Both exhibitions were successes and Hassan was allowed to study abroad. Beginning in the early 1950s, El Glaoui trained in Paris at the

École des Beaux-Arts École des Beaux-Arts (; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth century ...

under Jean Souverbie and

Émilie Charmy Émilie Charmy (pronounced "shar-mee") (April 2, 1878 – June 7, 1974) was an artist in France's early avant-garde. She worked closely with Fauve artists like Henri Matisse, and was active in exhibiting her artworks in Paris, particularly ...

. During his time in Paris he mastered drawing and oil paintings and was the first Moroccan artist to study art abroad. He married a Frenchwoman of Egyptian origin, Évelyne Kahil. In 1954, he was injured in an automobile accident with his wife in

Aix-les-Bains Aix-les-Bains (, ; frp, Èx-los-Bens; la, Aquae Gratianae), locally simply Aix, is a commune in the southeastern French department of Savoie.

. He was an heir to a 300-year-old dynasty of

Berbers , image = File:Berber_flag.svg , caption = The Berber ethnic flag , population = 36 million , region1 = Morocco , pop1 = 14 million to 18 million , region2 = Algeria , pop2 ...

. Following his father's death in 1956 shortly after the independence of Morocco, his family's wealth was confiscated for a year. During a stay in Marrakech on May 1, 1957, he was kidnapped with three of his brothers by (a priori uncontrolled elements of

Istiqlal Istiqlal ( ar, اِسْتِقْلال, istiqlāl) means ''independence'' and may refer to: Political parties *Azərbaycan Milli İstiqlal Partiyası or Azerbaijan National Independence Party, political party in Azerbaijan *Harakat Al-Istiqlal or In ...

), and remained detained for more than 18 months in different locations. The last location was near

Casablanca Casablanca, also known in Arabic as Dar al-Bayda ( ar, الدَّار الْبَيْضَاء, al-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ, ; ber, ⴹⴹⴰⵕⵍⴱⵉⴹⴰ, ḍḍaṛlbiḍa, : "White House") is the largest city in Morocco and the country's econom ...

in Boucheron. He decided to exile himself back to Paris after his liberation in late 1958. His first wife soon filed for divorce. He moved to an exentred place near the castle of

Rambouillet Rambouillet (, , ) is a subprefecture of the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region of France. It is located beyond the outskirts of Paris, southwest of its centre. In 2018, the commune had a population of 26,933. Rambouillet lies ...

, where he lived alone. He met his second wife Christine Legendre, a model for

Hubert de Givenchy Count Hubert James Marcel Taffin de Givenchy (; 21 February 1927 – 10 March 2018) was a French aristocrat and fashion designer who founded the luxury fashion and perfume house of Givenchy in 1952. He is famous for having designed much of the p ...

. They got married in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

in 1963. The artist was widely exhibited in Europe and the United States, among other places at the time, and his work auctioned by

Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, and ...

and

Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, at Rockefeller Center in New York City and at Alexandra House in Hong Kong. It is ...

. In 1964 he moved back to

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

to be closer to his mother. In 1965 his first show since his return to Morocco was held in a large tent. His paintings follow the Moroccan figurative tradition, and his main subjects are military horses and their riders. He rose to prominence in the 1980s with his modernist

figurative painting Figurative art, sometimes written as figurativism, describes artwork (particularly paintings and sculptures) that is clearly derived from real object sources and so is, by definition, representational. The term is often in contrast to abstract ...

s of fantasia horsemen landscapes and unique portrait. He held solo shows in Paris (1950), New York (1951, 1967), London (1960), Brussels (1969), and Casablanca, and his works are collected in the

Royal Palace This is a list of royal palaces, sorted by continent. Africa * Abdin Palace, Cairo * Al-Gawhara Palace, Cairo * Koubbeh Palace, Cairo * Tahra Palace, Cairo * Menelik Palace * Jubilee Palace * Guenete Leul Palace * Imperial Palace- Massa ...

Collection in

Fez, Morocco Fez or Fes (; ar, فاس, fās; zgh, ⴼⵉⵣⴰⵣ, fizaz; french: Fès) is a city in northern inland Morocco and the capital of the Fès-Meknès, Fès-Meknès administrative region. It is the List of cities in Morocco, second largest city i ...

, and the Parliament Collection in

Rabat Rabat (, also , ; ar, الرِّبَاط, er-Ribât; ber, ⵕⵕⴱⴰⵟ, ṛṛbaṭ) is the capital city of Morocco and the country's seventh largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan populati ...

. During his first show in New York, he stood out in his

djellaba The djellaba or jillaba (; Arabic: جلابة; Berber: ''aselham''), also written gallabea, is a long, loose-fitting unisex outer robe with full sleeves that is worn in the Maghreb region of North Africa. In central and eastern Algeria it is cal ...

and retaining his polite demeanor. El Glaoui's works were appreciated by Moroccan Kings

Hassan II Hassan, Hasan, Hassane, Haasana, Hassaan, Asan, Hassun, Hasun, Hassen, Hasson or Hasani may refer to: People *Hassan (given name), Arabic given name and a list of people with that given name *Hassan (surname), Arabic, Jewish, Irish, and Scottis ...

and Mohamed VI.

Death and legacy

El Glaoui died on June 21, 2018 in Rabat, aged 94. In early 2012, El Glaoui's work was exhibited alongside Churchill's Moroccan paintings of Marrakech, as proposed by El Glaoui's daughter and curated by Daniel Robbins at the London

Leighton House Museum The Leighton House Museum is an art museum in the Holland Park area of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in west London. The building was the London home of painter Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton (1830–1896), who commi ...

. The 2014 Marrakesh Biennale also showed the pairing. His children are also in the fine arts industry. Touria El Glaoui started the

contemporary African art Contemporary African art is commonly understood to be art made by artists in Africa and the African diaspora in the post-independence era. However, there are about as many understandings of contemporary African art as there are curators, scholar ...

fair 1:54, and Ghizlan El Glaoui paints in a

mosaic A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...

style. His grandson Brice Bexter is a rising actor. African art broke records at

Sothebys Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, and ...

on April 2, 2019. Among the record-breaking works was "La Sortie du Roi" by Hassan El Glaoui, which sold for 137.500 £. Later in April 2019 the family organized with the MMVI a show with more than hundred unique paintings call "The Salt of my Earth" to showcase unique artwork unknown to the public. The exhibition attracted more than 32 000 visitors in less than three months.

References

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Glaoui, Hassan 1923 births 2018 deaths Moroccan male painters École des Beaux-Arts alumni People from Marrakesh People from Rabat 20th-century Moroccan painters 21st-century Moroccan painters