In this same vein, Matisse ultimately realized that his presence in Morocco was not necessary and that Tangier was better off without European intrusion. This is represented by the marabout in his Les Marocains (1916), completed in France, three years after his departure from Morocco. The canvas is composed of three segments and near the top left-center is the marabout. The structure has undergone a sort of abstraction as architectural detail has been thrown to the wind. Instead, the tomb’s walls stretch to the top of the canvas, where its dome is met by streaks of white on a black background. Just as the earlier Le marabout, light rays and proximity to the top of the canvas elevate the tomb and link it to the heavens. The imam, symbolic of the Muslim faith, gazes over in the direction of the marabout from his position on the pink minaret and seems to raise his arm towards it.
Notably, European presence is not found at all in this view of Tangier. The scene is entirely Eastern and Islamic. Matisse shares with his audience his personal view of quintessential Morocco, pure and untainted by Western influence. Here is the marabout saint’s aforementioned baraka, divine grace, translated in paint. In titling his painting “the Moroccans” Matisse gives the marabout symbolic significance, presenting it as the focus of the Moroccan experience. Les Marocains signifies Matisse’s idealistic view of the East, but in the end, the context of the work is marked by contradiction. It depicts a scene lacking in Western intrusion, yet was itself painted on the coast of France. Furthermore, Matisse would never have been able to depict this scene had he not himself intruded into Morocco three years earlier. At this point Matisse has come full circle from H. Matisse. He has finally realized that he cannot include himself in a depiction of how he sees Morocco. Though the West did triumph, for Matisse, a successful recreation of Morocco warrants utter exclusion of European influence.
(pictured above)Les Marocains, 1916, Henri Matisse, New York, Museum of Modern Art.