Jehan Frison (1882-1961) Malika, Moroccan Portrait, Fez-bou Saâda Period, Circa 1926

Jehan Frison (1882-1961)

Malika, Moroccan portrait, Fez-Bou Saâda period, circa 1926

Oil on panel.

Dimensions: 47 x 37 cm unframed; 52.5 x 42.5 cm framed.

This portrait of a young North African woman, signed by the Belgian artist Jehan Frison, belongs to that highly personal moment in his painting when colour became the true subject. Close to the Belgian Fauves and to the fauvisme brabançon, Frison nevertheless developed an individual manner, more nervous and direct, in which dark outlines, burning reds and strongly characterised faces give his figures immediate intensity.

Although the painting is undated, several Orientalist works of the same spirit are known today, including figures very close to this one, sometimes explicitly located in Fez, Bou Saâda or Algiers. The dated works of this group are concentrated around 1926-1927, which allows Malika to be placed within this particularly vivid phase of the artist’s career.

Like many painters of the period drawn to the Maghreb, Frison seems here to seek light, pure colour, faces still untouched by the uniform models of modern Europe, and the poetry of peoples who preserved traditional clothing, generous fabrics and rich colours. In this work the black lines are as strong as the sitter’s dark gaze; they structure the figure with energy while preserving a genuine poetic charm.

A few years earlier Frison had already achieved important recognition, as shown by his participation in the 1920 Venice Biennale. This portrait therefore belongs not to an uncertain early stage, but to a moment of full maturity, when his pictorial language became freer, more concise and more vibrant.

Also notable is a revealing aspect of his working practice: on the reverse of several Frison paintings appear rapid graphic marks, almost wild, as if the artist had wiped his brush there or extended the gesture beyond the image itself. A detail that reinforces the sense of a painting made of impulse, instinct and presence.

Signed lower right.

Titled upper right.

Good condition.