Landscape, Algeria [Oran] by James Wilson Morrice

Provenance:
Marguerite Guichardaz, Paris (wife of art material dealer and agent César Guichardaz)
David R. Morrice (nephew of the artist), Montreal, 1929
Bequeathed to the Winnipeg Art Gallery, with usufruct in favour of his sister, F. Eleanore Morrice, Montreal (he died in 1978, she in 1981)
Collection of The Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1983

Exhibited:
"Salon d’Automne", Grand Palais, Paris, 1 November-16 December 1923, no. 1459 as Paysage (La Jamaïque)
"Drawings and Paintings by J.W. Morrice, 1865-1924", 74th Annual Exhibition, Memorial Section, Royal Canadian Academy, Art Gallery of Toronto, 27 November-10 January 1954, no. 1 as "Moroccan Landscape"
"Acquisitions", Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1 December 1984-13 January 1985
"Historical Canadian Works from the Collection", Winnipeg Art Gallery, 31 May-19 October 1986 as "Landscape, North Africa"
"Canadian Historical Art from the Collection", Winnipeg Art Gallery, 6 April-16 July 1989
"Stored Secrets: The Vault on View, Winnipeg Art Gallery", 11 September-27 November 1994
"The View from Here, Selections from the Canadian Historical Collection", Winnipeg Art Gallery, 28 May-31 December 2000, no. 91 as "Landscape, North Africa"

Literature:
"The WAG MAG", Winnipeg, June/July 1986, reproduced page 11 as "Landscape, North Africa"
Mary Jo Hughes, "The View from Here, Selections from the Canadian Historical Collection", Winnipeg, 2000, no. 91, reproduced page 52

James Wilson Morrice resumed his international travels after the First World War, visiting North Africa, Trinidad and, closer to home in Paris, the south of France and Corsica. This painting of a tranquil scene in Algeria was exhibited at the 1923 Salon d’Automne in Paris, with the incorrect title "Paysage (La Jamaïque)". Also included in the show was "Paysage (Algérie)" by Morrice, also incorrectly titled, as it was in fact depicting a beach in Trinidad. The Salon ended on December 16, and the paintings were returned to César Guichardaz, his agent, until Morrice was able to pick them up. The artist unexpectedly died in Tunis on January 23rd, 1924. Guichardaz kept the two paintings, and sold them to Morrice's nephew David in 1929.

David Morrice might have kept them there for a while, because when Donald W. Buchanan researched his 1936 "Biography" and "Catalogue Raisonné", he did not see them in the Montreal family home. When he did, around 1940, he added their descriptions, in pencil, to his own copy of his book (NGC archives), according to Morrice’s titles: this painting in the "West Indies" section, the beach scene in "North Africa". But when he realized that the latter subject was not Algerian (and not Jamaican either!), and that Morrice, in his haste at sending his works to the Salon had switched the titles, he corrected both notes in ink, adding “Algeria” on page 177, and “Trinidad?” on page 175. He was right on both counts, and we have renamed the present canvas "Landscape, Algeria", as Morrice himself had first intended.

The 1921 Trinidad sketchbook was also used in 1922, notably in Algeria, in the capital and in Constantine, a much less Europeanized town in eastern Algeria. We find more images of Algiers in another sketchbook (#19, MMFA Dr.1981.11); after a careful study of its drawings and inscriptions, we concluded that Morrice had returned to Algeria in early 1923, this time accompanied by Léa. The sketchbook tells us that they also visited Oran, the country’s second largest city, on the western coast: there is the classic view of Mount Murdjadjo, with the Fort Santa Cruz, and another of the "Mosquée du Pacha". The drawing that corresponds to the present painting is right after another view of the mosque, and before that of a road joining another one at the bottom of a hill. Could they also be Oranese?

A rare postcard shows the exact view that Morrice depicted, a photo taken before the short palm trees were planted; its legend reads "Oran, Algerien - La Promenade de Létang". This large public park, established in 1837 by a French General of that name, is still in existence, renamed "Promenade Ibn Badis" after the 1962 Independence. Quite large, it is crisscrossed by many alleys, covering two slopes of a hill overlooking the port. After drawing his view of the Murdjadjo from a terrace in the park, Morrice likely walked down the hill behind him (the alley on the left here), reached a small open space near the eastern gate, then turned around: the decorative qualities of this quiet corner appealed to him. "The Chateau Neuf", high on the hill, is far enough not to be distracting – it is almost invisible in the painting. Satisfied with his drawing, the artist continued down the alley on the right, stopping at mid-slope to draw its junction with the main road below. This last drawing, and one of the mosque, were later developed into beautiful watercolours, but "Landscape, Algeria" is the only canvas from the second Algerian trip.

With its luscious vegetation and its mauve sky, the oil painting continues an artistic style Morrice had adopted in Morocco around 1919-20, and pursued in Trinidad the following year. The flat, decorative composition and the almost saturated palette show the influence of Gauguin more than that of Matisse. And from Cézanne, he borrowed the strong contours of the foliage, though freely and lightly enough to let the white ground show through. This technique is derived from watercolour, Morrice’s preferred medium at this point: after years of sketching rapidly in oil, he was pushing even further his simplification of forms and colours. Given its date and its history, "Landscape, Algeria" is very likely his last canvas, making us wonder where his art would have led him, if not for his early passing.

We extend our thanks to Lucie Dorais, Canadian art historian and author of "J.W. Morrice" (National Gallery of Canada, 1985), for contributing the preceding essay.