4 Photographs Jean Besancenot Africa Morocco Costumes Children's Finery 20th Century

Set of 4 photographs (silver print) by Jean Besancenot* depicting women and children from Africa (Morocco) in traditional costumes and adornments, from the 20th century. These photographs are in good condition. They have been placed under glass (posterior). One photo is signed. Please note: slight yellowing and slight wear of time, see photos. * Jean BESANCENOT (1902-1992): Jean Girard, known as Besancenot, was born in 1902 in the Oise department. He arrived in Morocco for the first time in 1934 with the desire to document the costume and adornment there. His approach is that of an artist, draftsman and painter, in the service of ethnography, an approach he had already experimented with by carrying out a study on certain regional costumes in Europe. The visual documentation, as complete as possible, that he constitutes will serve as a support and complement to realize his gouache drawings. In the field, in addition to written notes, he made quick sketches or more detailed drawings when he had the time and supplemented this information with a large number of photographs, often capturing the image on the fly, on the spot. At the end of his life, after sorting through his numerous photographic documents, for which he classified them according to populations and geographical areas, and aware of the exceptional interest of his work, he wanted this collection to be preserved in a place where it would be exploited, disseminated and showcased in the best possible way, and thought of the IMA, then in its creation. It was in 1984 that the IMA acquired this entire collection composed of 1800 documents. See the Arago Photographic Portal site, Artist listed on Artprice. Dimensions Dimensions photo old woman: 24 cm x 27.5 cm child: 23.5 cm x 28.7 cm 3 children: 23 cm x 25.5 cm woman: 29.5 cm x 38 cm Reference: F30 785 All photos are on: www.antiques-delaval.com