Matisse in Morocco: A Journey of Light and Color

by Jeff Koehler

The remarkable and little-known story of the two groundbreaking winters that Henri Matisse spent painting in Morocco, a fertile period that transformed his art and marked his work until the very end.

In winter of 1912, Henri Matisse—forty-two, nearing mid-career, and yet to find lasting critical acceptance, public admiration, or financial security since exploding to the forefront of the avant-garde in 1905 with his iconoclastic Fauve paintings—was struggling. Once the vanguard leader, the Parisian avant-garde now considered him passé. His important early collectors, including Gertrude and Leo Stein, had stopped buying his work and were fully championing Picasso, and he had exhibited little in the last few years. In the face of Cubism that was now dominating the art scene, Matisse needed to get away from Paris in order to advance his distinctive artistic vision.

Almost on a whim, he went to Tangier. Matisse had already been profoundly inspired by Islamic art, and was primed for his arrival in the Moroccan city where such art was integrated into everyday life. Despite the challenges of rain, insomnia, depression, and finding models, the sojourn was such a success he returned the following winter, which would lead to even greater artistic triumph.

Matisse in Morocco tells the story of the artist's groundbreaking time in Tangier and how it altered Matisse’s development as a painter and indelibly marked his work for the next four decades. Through Koehler's research and travel, we experience Matisse's time in Tangier, the paintings and their subjects, his relationships with his wife Amélie and his two important collectiors, and then come to understand the impact Morocco—its light, colors, culture, and artistic traditions—had on his art. From Landscape Viewed From a Window, to Zorah on the Terrace, from Kasbah Gate to the dream-like tableau Moroccan Café, these works from Morocco are now recognized as some of the most significant and dazzling of Matisse’s illustrious career.

Genres: Art, Morocco, Nonfiction, Biography, Art History

320 pages, Hardcover

Published June 3, 2025

About the author

I grew up north of Seattle, studied at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington, and then hit the road. The next four years were spent traveling in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, and Asia.

After those years of constant roaming, when food was as much of the joy and discovery as the people and places, I settled in London to do graduate work at King’s College London and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

There, in the kitchen of a shared Hampstead residence hall, I met another foreign post-grad, a Catalan woman. When she returned home to Barcelona to do her PhD, I followed. That was 1996. We married not long after, and for most of the time since then we have lived here. We have two young girls. Barcelona is home, though I continue to travel widely and frequently.

Along with my four cookbooks and two non-fiction works, I have written, mostly about food and travel, for many magazines and newspapers, including Saveur, Food & Wine, Gourmet (RIP), NPR.org, nationalgeographic.com, EatingWell, the Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Atlantic Monthly on-line, Christian Science Monitor, Dwell, Virtuoso Life, Aramco World, Destinasia, and Afar.

Darjeeling won the 2016 IACP award for literary food writing and a Gourmand Best in the World prize for book on tea. Where the Wild Coffee Grows will be published by Bloomsbury in November 2017.

For me food is an ideal subject because writing about it is writing about culture. It is the window through which almost any story can be told.

Reviews

[Dovilė Filmanavičiūtė · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mane buvo ištikusi kažkokia praraja: aš skraidinausi ir vežiausi knygas visur, tik neatsiverčiau anei puslapio. Negalėjau prisiversti, o pabandžiusi iškart norėdavau, kad tos knygos nuo manęs atsikabintų.

Jeff Koehlerio tyrimas apie Matisą pabuvojo visose Baltijos šalyse ir Italijoje, labai patiko man nuo pirmo atsivertimo, bet kodą nulaužiau tik vakar.
Šįryt senų obelų sode su knyga ir kava susisukau dar su naktiniais marškiniais - kad tik nepraeitų! Ir pabaigiau! Tuoj valysiu dulkes namuose ir nuo kitko.

O kaip ten su tuo Matisu?

Koehleris laaaaabai skaniai suvyniojo dvi Matiso žiemas Tanžere. Išsamų tyrimą autorius ramsto paties Matiso laiškais, menotyrininkų tekstais, istoriniais šaltiniais, kurie tik dar plačiau išskleidžia kontekstą, bet rašo jis lengvai, be jokios akademinės sausros, tad gal dėl to taip faina skaityt.
Norėčiau pradėti postringauti, kad esu labiau Hockney tipo žmogus, tik skaitydama esu iškart priversta užsičiaupti: Matisas įkvėpė begalę menininkų, įskaitant ir patį Hockney. Todėl nuostabus autoriaus gebėjimas aprašyti Matiso paveikslus - dar vienas knygos pliusas. Koehleris rašo apie juos vaizdžiai, aiškiai, išsamiai. Panyri į spalvas, kompoziciją ir šviesą. Net tų patalpų, kuriuose paveikslai kabo. Knygoje gausu ir kūrinių vizualizacijų, tad labai patogu skaityti ir sekti tai apie ką skaitai.
Labai įdomu sekti ir platesnį kontekstą, nes knyga pasakoja ne tik apie Matisą, bet ir apie kitus Tanžere dirbusius dailininkus, apie karo padarinius, apie Matiso santykius su žmona Amèlie, jo draugus ir drauges, apie Delacroix, apie XX amžiaus meno sceną Paryžiuje ir pasaulyje.
Jaučiuosi trupučiuką supratusi, kaip tos dvi Matiso žiemos Tanžere, jo šviesa, spalvos ir kultūra pakeitė vieno svarbiausių dailininko meną keturiems dešimtmečiams į priekį.
Nesu gėlyčių ir atvirų langų į prieplaukas fanė, tai man Matisas pradeda patikti antrą žiemą Maroke :))))
Tačiau kaip jau minėtas Delacroix pasakytų: Pirmučiausia paveikslo prasmė - būti švente akiai.
Tai gal tiek ir užtenka: džiaugsmo skaityti ir džiaugsmo pasimėgauti kitais jusliniais malonumais.

P.S. Noriu į Tanžerą Matiso pėdomis; nervina, kad ruskiai turi šitiek Matiso; bandau įsivaizduoti kaip sudėtinga buvo Amèlie ir kokios vis dar paraštėse pamirštos yra didžių vyrų žmonos.

[Cheryl Sokoloff · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an incredible book. Matisse spent two winters in Tangiers, and those months had such a profound influence on the course not only of his art, but on so many lives in the process.
This was eye opening for me, (I am no connoisseur on the field of Henri Matisse), but now, I feel educated on this aspect of his life.
About to visit the Matisse museum in Nice!

[Romena Devyze · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kiek spalvų šioje knygoje ir kiek istorijos! Knyga, kurią skaitant vėl nori į Maroką, Paryžių, užsinori į MoMA New Yorke, kartu Googlini įvardintus paveikslus, nes smalsu. Rekomenduoju, kai norisi lengvai, kai menas įtraukia.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Matisse in Morocco, a newly released book by author and journalist Jeff Koehler, is about Henri Matisse’s creative stints in Morocco—mostly Tangier. A slave to his art, Matisse, Koehler writes, traveled by steamship to Tangier in 1912 for the “light” it was famous for. Eugene Delacroix [1798 - 1863] traveled to Tangier for the same reason, yet that was in 1832, and interestingly, both faced similar barriers in painting the human figure due to a deep distrust from the Moorish locals. Sketches, drawings, or paintings were viewed by the locals as bad omens, sacrilegious even, given the Islamic customs that forbade depictions of human figures of almost any kind. However, both Delacroix and Matisse were able to secure models by going underground and paying well, yet as Koehler describes, securing female models, which Matisse preferred, was a challenge for Matisse. Through a contact at Matisse's hotel in Tangier, Matisse managed to secure a young woman, Zorah—a woman he painted several times. There are a handful of captivating paintings of Zorah, including Zorah on the Terrace (1912), included in the book along with several other colored images of Matisse’s artworks influenced by his time in Morocco. I spent much time engaging with the images of Matisse’s paintings on the pages within the book. For that reason, I suggest that anyone who admires Matisse and his art will appreciate this book for the pictures alone. The images are stupendous; there were many I’d never seen before.

I have read several books about Matisse, and Koehler’s book was the first that described in detail two female artists who were close friends of Matisse—Hilda Rix and Georgette Agutte. Koehler includes excerpts of letters between the artist and his friends that give glimpses into their relationships and how they supported and influenced each other. The passage below was an excerpt from a letter to Matisse by Georgette Agutte.

“Your two sketches, so fresh and so delicate in tone, show a concession to public opinion; in this large room, they are as if lost. One would like to see them in a small private room, but there, you must have these large admirable paintings that catch the eye, impose themselves, and would decorate this entire large room on their own,” she tactfully wrote. She was referring to two new works that were sitting at the moment in his studio (p 7).

I very much appreciated the inclusion of these two female artists in Matisse in Morocco, which led me on a hunt to learn more of each. Art lovers and Matisse admirers will thoroughly enjoy this fine book.

[Jee Koh · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really enjoyable read. I especially appreciate the weaving of the writings of Moroccans into the fascinating story of Matisse in the country, so we get to see not only Matisse's view of the country, but also the country's view, so to speak, of Matisse. The autonomy, dignity, respect, and equality that Matisse gave to his Moroccan human subjects, such as Zorah and the Riffian, is beautifully drawn out from his diaries, interviews, and, most importantly, paintings. I've always loved the mysterious painting "The Moroccans" in MoMA, and this biography makes beautifully clear the history of Matisse's engagement with Islamic art and North Africa that led up to its climactic finish in the painting.

[Genoveva Uzunova · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book a lot! It has interesting details about the life and work of Henri Matisse and is written in an easy-to-read style. It has beautiful paintings, some of which I have seen, and the history behind their creation. It is amazing how Matisse was depressed and even contemplated whether he was painting his last paintings, having financial troubles, and created beautiful, joyful, and colorful art. His paintings are a true example of how art gives hope for the artist and the audience.

[CP · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written in a super engaging way, the book is really about Matisse and his Russian patrons / collectors. I would appreciate a bit more “colors” on how exactly to appreciate his style shift though.
Morocco is indeed the Orient, but Matisse does seem a little different from the typical Orientalist. Or maybe as some Orientalist theorists put it, this is a way to define the West, rather the East.

[Michael Butterworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a coffee professional, I often tell people Jeff Koehler's book Where the Wild Coffee Grows is the best coffee book I've read. As someone who loves art and North Africa, his book Matisse in Morocco caught my eye at Golden Hour Books in Indianapolis.

True to form, Koehler's prose paints a vivid picture of how the Matisse's time in Morocco inspired many of his masterpieces.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The first merit of a painting is to be a feast (or celebration) for the eye." ~ Delacriox

Excellent writing on the impact of time spent in Tangier, Morocco on the development of Henri Matisse's artistic growth and vision.

[Olga Vannucci · Rating 5 out of 5]

His career had lost some luster,
Even Gertrude Stein perplexed.
Tangier newly made the master,
It brought out his very best.

[Corina Martin-Iordache · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book highlighting the time Matisse spent painting in Morocco and the influence North-Africa had on his work. Great explanations linked to the works he actually created.

[Laura_pl]

Knyga tapo puikia proga prisiminti matytas parodas Paryžiuje ir Vatikane, bei suprasti, kiek neįtikėtinas Ščiukino ir Morozovo kolekcijų likimas ir kaip puiku, kad pavyko jas Paryžiuje pamatyti