Jules-louis Moréteau, "the Bouregreg Valley," Landscape, Rabat, Morocco, 1927, Oil On Panel

This work, signed on the back by Jules-Louis Moréteau, depicts the “Bouregreg Valley as seen from the Chellah Ravine” in Morocco, near Rabat. This view is composed in the style of the artist’s landscapes created in the late 1920s, particularly in Morocco: a succession of planes linked by a soft, earthy, pastel palette and flat areas of color. The landscapes are thus built in layers, and one can sense their rhythms in depth. The ravine—where water flows amid the arid lands.

Trained at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, winner of the Prix de Rome in 1926, and an exhibitor at the 1931 Colonial Exhibition in Vincennes, he also received government grants that sent him to paint the landscapes of French colonial territories. A native of Bordeaux, the artist also painted a few landscapes of Italy—and many works depicting the Maghreb and West Africa.

Beyond the artist’s technique, a palette of tones runs through his work and demonstrates a genuine talent for depicting the regions he visited—their landscapes, light, and sometimes local cultures—both faithfully and with feeling. (Feel free to browse the artist’s other works that we have posted online).

The work is in very good condition and is unframed. Its dimensions are as follows: 27 cm wide, 22 cm high.

Here is a brief biography of the artist:
Jules Louis Moréteau (1886–1956) was a traveling painter born in Bordeaux. He was a renowned painter associated with the artistic movements known as Orientalism and Africanism. He received his artistic training at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. His teachers were Gabriel Ferrier, François Flameng, and Charles Fouqueray. Winner of the Prix de Rome in 1926, he painted Rabat, Safi, and Mogador. In 1935, he won a travel grant to French West Africa and visited Senegal, Sudan, Guinea, and the Ivory Coast. He exhibited with the Société des Artistes Français and participated in the Colonial Exhibition in Paris in 1931. A paragraph is devoted to him in the book by Lynne Thornton, *em* *Les africanistes Peintres voyageurs* , published by ACR.