Matisse in Morocco: A Journey of Light and Color

In this haphazard study, Morocco author Koehler wraps multiple historical narratives around two trips that French painter Henri Matisse (1869–1954) took to Morocco. Matisse, a prominent member of the fauvist movement, was at a reputational low point in 1912, as the avant-garde community turned to cubism and Picasso. Seeking a new direction and to fulfill outstanding commissions, he left Paris for Tangier. The choice initially seemed disastrous, as bad weather kept him inside and Islamic prohibitions against images of living creatures made finding models difficult. He returned to France with a crop of new paintings later that year, but chose to exhibit none, then went back to Tangier, finding new subjects and incorporating Islamic motifs into his work. Woven into the narrative are tangents on Moroccan history; details of the French painter Eugène Delacroix’s 1832 trip to Morocco; profiles of Matisse’s primary collectors; and an account of the 1990–1991 exhibition of Matisse’s Morocco paintings at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Matisse’s story doesn’t conform to the typical “blocked artist travels to a foreign land and finds his way” narrative, and Koehler’s sensitivity to Orientalist tropes means he doesn’t force such an interpretation. However, he struggles to find a unifying story to tell amid all the tangents, which—while individually interesting—cause the book, before long, to collapse under its own weight. It’s a mixed bag. (June)