Shedding light on Lavery's Tangier experience

Sir John Lavery was undoubtedly one of the most popular artists in Ireland, both during his lifetime and since, and his output was prodigious. It is, therefore, understandable that some areas of his oeuvre are less well-known than others.

In particular, the pictures he produced in Morocco over a period of more than two years tend to take secondary place in this country to those with overt Irish associations. However, an example of his Moroccan oils coming up for sale in London next month provides an opportunity to examine Lavery's abiding interest in north Africa and the work it inspired.

The entire north African coast had, of course, exercised an attraction for artists from Europe for much of the 19th century, from the time Napoleon had been in Egypt in 1798-99 and later exemplified in the 1830s by champions of French romanticism such as Delacroix and Gericault.

Orientalism was much in vogue throughout the period and so when Lavery journeyed to Morocco in early 1891, he was following a well-established path. Like many of those who had gone before him, he responded with enthusiasm to the clarity of the area's light, the low horizons and wide expanses of azure sky which feature in so many of his Moroccan paintings. During his initial visit, Lavery discovered many of the features which would continue to draw him on subsequent trips to Morocco. Almost half of the pictures he presented at an exhibition in London's Goupil Gallery later that same year were produced during his stay.

Another exhibition at the Leicester Galleries in 1904 included a catalogue introduction written by the artist's Scottish friend Robert Cunninghame Graham which paid tribute to the city of Tangier where Lavery spent much of his time during the winter months passed in Morocco. So great was his attachment to this place that he eventually acquired his own Tangier home, a house called Dar El Midfah.

According to Kenneth McConkey, author of a 1993 monograph on the artist, Lavery's 1908 London exhibition was dominated by Morocco, including a large aerial view of Tangier. These panoramic cityscapes were a feature of the work he achieved in north Africa; during his debut tour of the region, he had ascended to the roof of the Hotel Continental in Tangier to capture the sight of receding flat white roofs. The whiteness of the buildings in Morocco and the contrast they made with the blue of the sky thanks to consistently strong sunlight is another abiding feature of Lavery's Moroccan paintings. But he also painted views of the local souks, of merchants and snake charmers, dancers and musicians, and even the interior of harems.

Prior to his marriage to Hazel Martyn in 1909, he was usually accompanied on these trips by his daughter, Eileen, who often appears in the Moroccan canvases. After the wedding, Hazel and her own daughter, Alice, would travel with the party as well, and this remained the custom until the outbreak of the first World War when such journeys became impossible.

In the post-war period, the Lavery family no longer went to Morocco as frequently and their last visit there occurred in 1920.

The picture to be sold next month by Christie's dates from 1911 and is called Early Morning, Tangier. It shows a view looking north-east across the city toward the Straits of Gibraltar. The landscape in the foreground is sketched in broad brushstrokes and well over half the canvas is given over to a sky in which white clouds are massing. The colours are typically brilliant, with verdant greens, blue and white predominating. The estimate on this painting is £150,000-£250,000 sterling.

Lavery's Early Morning, Tangier is included in the sale of Important British and Irish Art being held at Christie's, London on Thursday, November 11th. Also in this sale are works by William Orpen and Jack B. Yeats.