Journal
Exhibitions, paintings and studio stories by DAMSSILI.
Studio · 2017
Moon Light, step by step
From the turquoise sky to the finished painting: twelve photos of the work on my first oil canvas.
Painting · 2018–2019
Volubilis, a clash of civilisations
Arab horsemen rest beside a Roman ruin, eight centuries after that civilisation ended.
Exhibition · 2019
Inspiration Forum 2019, Claudio Bravo edition
An edition devoted to the memory of Claudio Bravo Camus, buried in Taroudant.
Painting · 2020
Fantasia: the Tbourida on canvas
Six riders, outfits from several cities, and a folk art I wanted to set down.
Painting · 2021
Abandoned: the end of the carriages
A carriage left outside the ramparts of Taroudant at sunset.
Award · 2020–2021
Beautiful Bizarre and the Luxembourg Art Prize
Two certificates from abroad for remote entries.
Studio · 2017
Moon Light, my first oil painting
Four months, three hours a day, to learn perspective and depth.
Studio · 2007–2015
Drawing before painting
Pencil and charcoal on large sheets: portraits, animals, ruins.
Art history
Eugène Delacroix and Morocco: the journey that changed Orientalism
In 1832 Delacroix travelled to Morocco and came back with notebooks that fed his painting for thirty years.
Art history
Jean-Léon Gérôme: the academic master of Orientalist painting
Gérôme brought a photographic finish to scenes of Egypt and the Near East, and shaped what the West imagined of the Orient.
Art history
Étienne Dinet: the French painter who settled in Bou Saâda
Dinet lived for decades in Algeria, converted to Islam, and painted the people of the oasis with unusual closeness.
Art history
Jacques Majorelle: Marrakech, the Atlas and a famous blue
Majorelle settled in Marrakech in 1917, painted the villages of the Atlas and created the garden that bears his name.
Art history
Mariano Fortuny: the Spanish virtuoso who painted Morocco
Fortuny went to Morocco in 1860 to record a war, and ended up becoming one of the great colourists of his century.
Art history
Mohamed Ben Ali R'bati: a pioneer of Moroccan painting
One of the first Moroccan painters of the modern period, R'bati offered a view of Morocco from the inside.