The extraordinary temporary exhibition “Cy Twombly, Morocco 1952/1953” that the Jardin Majorelle Foundation is organizing, from March 4 to July 2 in Marrakech, represents a journey through Morocco of this period, in the unique gaze of the influential American artist, Cy Twombly.
A visit organized Thursday to this exhibition, in the presence of artists and art critics, as well as actors from various backgrounds, was an opportunity to admire the overflowing talent and affinity of one of the greatest artists of the second half of the twentieth century, whose fascination with the world of classical antiquity is known, and who was equally intrigued by the cultures of the Amazigh tribes of Morocco.
It was during a voyage of discovery, from the winter of 1952 to the spring of 1953, that the young American artist traveled the Kingdom in the company of Robert Rauschenberg, a painter like himself. Together they explored not only the most frequently visited cities, such as Tangier, Casablanca and Marrakech, but also the relatively unknown remains of Amazigh sites in Tiznit and of classical antiquity in Volubilis, both of which gave their names to monumental works created by the artist following his Moroccan sojourn.
“Cy Twombly, Morocco 1952/1953” delves into this little-known period during which the twenty-five-year-old student first discovered the cultural expressions of the relatively unexplored world of the indigenous peoples of Morocco. Less than a decade after the end of World War II, when Europe is just rising from the ashes of mass destruction and desolation, pictorial representations of the Amazigh culture, whose graphics in an almost raw state evokes graffiti, fascinate the young artist, say the organizers.
Note that this exhibition, initiated in collaboration with the Cy Twombly Foundation and the Fondazione Nicola Del Roscio, is scheduled next Saturday.
According to the organizers, the famous French fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent would surely have been proud to welcome and connect with the revolutionary painter Cy Twombly at the Yves Saint Laurent Marrakech Museum, where young Moroccans and visitors from around the world will gain a richer understanding of the inspiring diversity of the Kingdom’s cultural heritage.
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