Tangier in the Rain

by Fabien Grolleau

In 1912, Matisse is feeling a little fed up. In Paris, Picasso is hogging the limelight, so Matisse decides it's time for some fresh air, a little space, and a different kind of light. That's it, he'll cross the Mediterranean and start painting a new kind of nature. He's going to Tangier. Problem is, when he finally gets there, it starts raining. In Villa de France, his palatial hotel looking down over Tangier, he has to make do with painting what he can: his bedroom. And so it begins: Room 35 is consigned to canvas, in a series that goes on to become legendary in art history.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Art, Bande Dessinée, Comics, Historical Fiction, Historical, Morocco

120 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 28, 2022

Reviews

[Alexander Peterhans · Rating 3 out of 5]

A strange one, this. A wholly speculative story, that does hit certain emotional notes and feels real enough. Some lovely art.

(Picked up a review copy through NetGalley)

[Rod Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

With Morocco just made a French protectorate, Henri Matisse feels entitled to journey there for inspiration and declare, "Tomorrow . . . Tangier is mine." So, yeah, imperialistic jackass whines about the rainy season but takes in the sights, paints them, and goes home. That one of those sights is a woman with a sad sexist backstory only helps to make this historical fiction drearier.

Side note: With this book, I complete my project of reading all the books on NPR's Books We Love 2022: Favorite Comics and Graphic Novels list.

[Zeynep T. · Rating 3 out of 5]

As it is stated in the foreword, the author and the illustrator of this book try to narrate painter Matisse's time in Tangier, Morocco between 1912-1913.

The artwork is incredible. For almost every page they use a different color palette. Apparently, there are many references to the Matisse painting style, but as someone with very limited art education, I could not catch them. Lettering is again hard to read for me. I wish the letters were a bit darker.

Of course, there is a story based on a real-life model called Zorah, who Henri Matisse painted when he was in Morocco. Thankfully, I get the reference to The Arabian Nights: Tales of 1001 Nights, but the story ended so abruptly, and the connection between the story and the painter's art was weak.

This book had so much potential to convey a beautiful story regarding art history, art in the east and west, how modern painters were influenced by other cultures, etc. It was not that disappointing, but it could be much more profound.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Europe Comics for providing the ARC of this book for the reviewers.

[Reading_ Tamishly · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn't want to DNF this short graphic novel but I can't stand half-hearted presentation, halfa* dialogues and don't -give-a-damn artstyle.

So that's it.

[Annabel Kok · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad but nothing special.
I didn’t particularly enjoy the art style, but it was pretty short so I’d still say it’s worth the read if you’re after a quick GN.

[Chantaal · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was quite lovely to look at, but in terms of story it felt quite dull.

Tangier in the Rain tells the story of Henri Matisse's visit to Morocco and imagines how life for the artist might have played out while he was there, and how his visit may have influenced his art. Unfortunately the story and writing didn't really give me much joy here; while I can get what Fabien Grolleau was going for in the story, I felt a bit removed from it all. Things just seemed to happen, with no real emotional throughline. I did enjoy the story within a story aspect involved in the Zorah storyline, but even that felt flat.

The art was the star for me here. I'm genuinely impressed by the artist's choice of color combinations, using a style that is simple and muted, with evenly laid out panels and only 2-3 colors depending on mood and location. I just wish the writing had lived up to it.

Overall this was a nice graphic novel to read through for a decent afternoon, but I think there's so much lost potential in these pages.

(I received a copy of this title from NetGalley for review.)

[Nathalie Vanhauwaert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cette très belle bd retrace les voyages de Matisse à Tanger en 1912 et 1913. Il ne cherche pas à coller parfaitement à la réalité mais nous conte l' (en)quête de Matisse dans la recherche d’une autre inspiration artistique.

Matisse a besoin de se ressourcer, de quitter Paris et de trouver de nouvelles idées pour sa peinture.

Tout d’abord la déception car il pleut à Tanger pendant plusieurs jours. Matisse déprime jusqu’au jour où la pluie cesse et que la lumière le pousse à peindre, dans les jardins d’un lord irlandais mais aussi le besoin de peindre un modèle local.

Ce modèle c’est une jeune prostituée Zorah, soeur du réceptionniste de l’hôtel où loge Matisse.

Un interdit plane donc sur la participation de cette jeune femme au travail de Matisse.

Zorah lui raconte une légende locale qui fait écho à sa propre histoire et à son secret que je ne vous révèlerai pas.

Matisse apparaît comme un personnage curieux de la nature, des coutumes et arts marocains mais aussi en même temps comme quelqu’un d’assez obnubilé, parfois colérique et égoîste. Il aurait pu aider Zorah mais ne voit même pas son rêve de quitter le Maroc. Une bd visuellement très belle, très fluide en l’absence de cases bien définies et une technique de coloriage particulière, pas plus de 2 à 3 couleurs à la fois, des dessins tout en rondeur.

9/10

https://nathavh49.blogspot.com/2022/0...

[Katy Wheatley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really beautiful graphic novel about the time that Matisse spent in Tangier searching for material to paint and largely being thwarted by the weather. It has a sub-plot about the woman that he ends up painting, which is quite intriguing but sort of abruptly stops. One assumes this is because this is what happened in real life, but it is hard to know. The art by Abdel de Bruxelles really makes this. I thought it might be Matisse like, but it isn't. It's elegant and often monochromatic but so beautifully detailed.

[Eule Luftschloss · Rating 3 out of 5]

The French painter Matisse took two trips to Tangier and this graphic novel is about that time period.

I really love the drawings, which are very colourful and expressive yet simple and calm.
While I liked the story, the ending came very abrupt and I felt left hanging. Even adding an extra page would probably be enough to get rid of this feeling.

I know nothing about what really happened, and thus can't say how accurately this depiction is.
Would recommend if you want a travel story, like I did, and if you like stories in a story.

The arc was provided by the publisher.

[Milla · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tangier in the Rain is almost like a slice of life comic - what happens is not really as important as how it's told and how it makes the reader feel. As events are in many ways mundane - the artist arrives, the artist paints while suffering minor creative crisis - the art in this comic must take the center stage. Abdel de Bruxelles's art is simple but his use of color is superb - he creates whole moods and atmospheres with it. Tangier in the rain is blue, clearly influenced by and picking up colors from Matisse's most famous Tangier painting "Window at Tangier". Tangier in the sun is shades of oranges and terracotta and white.

When it comes to the story itself and the characters I can't help but to view them through the French colonialist lens - as servants, objects of the painter's desire or even mere animals. Matisse paints and consumes what Tangier has to offer, he comes because of his personal needs and leaves when they are being met but doesn't make an effort to understand - comic doesn't do much to criticise but leaves it mostly to the reader to "read between the lines".

All in all the experience is mild - best parts are definitely told through the art, the reader feels being pulled into Tangier. The story leaves one wanting, though.

[Ankita Goswami · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5

To start off, the artwork is FANTASTIC! Loved the colour palette!

I don't know much about art so I wasn't very familiar with Matisse or the city of Tangier, and I am glad I was introduced to both through this book. It made me want to look up more of Matisse's work online including his piece 'Zorah on the Terrace', which is central to the graphic novel's storyline, and take a trip to Tangier soon.

The story is probably mostly fictional but I liked and enjoyed it a lot. It had some very interesting characters (Amido has my heart) and plot points. I also liked the subtle humour and the use of an Arabian Nights-esque storytelling device for Zorah's arc.

A big thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for giving me an e-ARC of this book. I had a very good time reading it.

[Maddysbook · Rating 4 out of 5]

J’ai bien aimé cette histoire.
L’objet livre est très jolie et vraiment de qualité.
Les dessins sont beaux, et simple. Les couleurs sont belles et nous guident dans la compréhension de l’histoire.
J’ai beaucoup aimé que les auteurs parent d’un fait « historique » les séjours du peintre Matisse à Tanger pour nous raconter une histoire fictive mais crédible et belle.

[Meredith Martinez · Rating 4 out of 5]

(3.5/5) I enjoyed this quick graphic novel about painter Henri Matisse in Tangier! Can't say that it's long enough to make me feel invested in any of the characters (both real and fictional in this case), but still an enjoyable read. The art was well done.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Ruby · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story follows Henri Matisse and his work in Tangier, intertwined with the story of Zorah - his model. The illustrations were so pretty! I absolutely love the use of colour. The ending was super abrupt and I felt like the whole plot beforehand really dragged, on only to come to it’s finish so quick!
Thank you to Netgalley for the arc.

[টক দইয়ের চা · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a mini "Arabian Nights". Exquisite artwork.

[kiryn!¡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

the artwork In this was so beautiful!

[Alexandria ☾ · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’ve never been so bored reading a graphic novel

[Michelle Morrell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well I surely didn't expect that to be heartbreaking. And now I want to go to Tangier.

[Allie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It a slow start, but also a super rushed ending.

[René Paquin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Belle BD qui raconte le séjour du peintre français Henri Matisse à Tanger, sa fascination pour les couleurs et la beauté du lieu, avec en toile de fond la magie des Milles et une nuits. Magnifique!

[Ludivine · Rating 5 out of 5]

100% parti pris car je pars à tanger demain. Deso pas deso. Sans doute pas un chef d’œuvre mais ça m’a quand même donné envie de découvrir tanger sous la pluie !

[Frida · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an eARC copy from Europe Comics via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This magnificent biographical graphic novel based on the out-of-his-comfort-zone part of Matisse's life is just the book we need to learn more about Matisse's work and the city of Tangier, its charm and how it affected the painter's life and work. Tangier is a mysterious and magical place, home to some of the most beautiful architecture and scenery, a mythical and cosmopolitan city; no surprise Matisse went twice to Tangier in search of inspiration.

And I do not mean he had to go twice because it was raining the first time; I am sure he just fell in love with city streets, views, flavours, and wafts of luxurious Oriental scents and was compelled to return. What's even more, Zorah, his model, and her life were so intriguing that I had no option but to compare her and her storytelling (in my mind, of course!) to that of the famous Scheherazade and One Thousand and One Nights.

While staying in Morocco and exploring the nooks and crannies of Tangier had a tremendous impact on his work (Matisse produced more than 20 oil paintings and sketches in bold shapes and expressive colours: Vue Sur la Baie de Tangier - View of the Bay of Tangier, La Porte de la Casbah - Entrance to the Kasbah, and La Fenêtre à Tanger - Window at Tangier, to name a few), I cannot get Zorah out of my mind as the centrepiece of this graphic novel. I wish there was more to her story and how Matisse and Zorah developed and changed, both as characters in this graphic novel and in real life. But that is up to us, readers, to find out; I think this short travelogue delivered more than meets the eye and did an excellent job at it.

[Catie · Rating 5 out of 5]

In 1912, Henri Matisse is an established artist but has lost his mojo; in order to freshen his vision he goes on a trip to Morocco, chasing a different kind of light. Unfortunately for him he arrives in a rainy season and is trapped in his room for the first couple of weeks, however he perseveres and paints what he can see: flowers in his room, the view from his window, and then as the weather improves moves out in the world to find true inspiration in the people and places of beautiful Tangier, including a young woman called Zorah.
This time in Morocco changed the course of Matisse’s art and led to a very famous set of paintings but little is known in detail of the people that he met and painted. This charming graphic novel aims to fill that gap with an evocative what-might-have-been fantasy.
The illustration style feels very French, using a restricted slightly muted palette to great effect. The artwork is infused with references to Matisse’s paintings but does not try to duplicate them, instead employing a line art style reminiscent of early 20th century strip cartoons which seems entirely appropriate
Apart from Matisse himself, the main characters we meet are hotel manager Hassan, his nephew Amido who becomes Matisse’s gopher, and sex worker Zorah who becomes his model and finding the work to her liking tries to spin the job out by telling stories like a 20th century Scheherazade.
The inevitable ending when it comes is sharp and bittersweet.
The story is told with gentle humour as it explores the nature of artistic inspiration, the effect on an artist of the exploration of a whole new world of light, people, places and objects but equally the effect the visit of the (comparatively) rich and free artist can have on the lives of the people he meets. And of course, equally the feeling when the window on to other lives which has been opened, is then abruptly closed.
I was completely swept up in this beautiful evocative story. You would not need to know anything about Matisse or Morocco to enjoy this book but might find it sparks an interest in one or both.

[Theediscerning · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really most impressive entry to the art biography shelf of the graphic novel canon, this also goes heavily into potential fiction – and beyond. Matisse and his wife Amelie have travelled to Tangier, leaving a Parisian art world poised on the discovery of Cubism and all that nonsense. He needs the break, which becomes weeks, as to start with all it does is lash it down, the rain drowning out any sense of the colours and light and feel of Morocco. But eventually, with the help of a beguiling local prostitute employed to pose for him, called Zorah, he finds his way into seeing what the location and its effects might lend to his art. And at the same time, an Arabian Nights-styled story, told over multiple modelling sessions, bit by bit might just find its way into our understanding of Zorah...

You'd be hard-pushed to expect a triumvirate of stories – his, hers, and the legend she narrates – to come easily. But this is effortless. It upsets the reader a lot more than expected when it seems we'll never get the final quarter of her tale, but the book never forgets that Matisse, dropping his suit and hat for local garb for his second trip to Tangier, is the character that changes the most over these pages. That said, this is more a fictional episode in the man's life, and there is a case to say this fantasy will not find favour with all of those buying it as an art biography. The style changes depending on whoever is narrating, or if we're seeing his sketches, but it didn't quite convince as a reproduction or being through his eyes. It's certainly worth the look, though, and to repeat the three stories for the price of one is a really welcome achievement. A strong four stars.

[Milla · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tangier in the Rain is almost like a slice of life comic - what happens is not really as important as how it's told and how it makes the reader feel. As events are in many ways mundane - the artist arrives, the artist paints while suffering minor creative crisis - the art in this comic must take the center stage. Abdel de Bruxelles's art is simple but his use of color is superb - he creates whole moods and atmospheres with it. Tangier in the rain is blue, clearly influenced by and picking up colors from Matisse's most famous Tangier painting "Window at Tangier". Tangier in the sun is shades of oranges and terracotta and white.

When it comes to the story itself and the characters I can't help but to view them through the French colonialist lens - as servants, objects of the painter's desire or even mere animals. Matisse paints and consumes what Tangier has to offer, he comes because of his personal needs and leaves when they are being met but doesn't make an effort to understand - comic doesn't do much to criticise but leaves it mostly to the reader to "read between the lines".

All in all the experience is mild - best parts are definitely told through the art, the reader feels being pulled into Tangier. The story leaves one wanting, though.

[Leighton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to Europe Comics and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Tangier in the Rain by Fabien Grolleau and Abdel de Bruxelles is an interesting graphic novel that is biographical and based on Matisse's life. The story revolves around the famous artist Matisse who travels across the Mediterranean and heads to Tangier. He stays in the hotel, Villa de France, and begins painting his bedroom. According to the description, "Room 35 is consigned to canvas, in a series that goes on to become legendary in art history."

Overall, Tangier in the Rain is a delightful graphic novel that reminded me of reading the old Tintin comics: a man travels to an exotic new location. One highlight of this book is the artwork, which is cartoonish and simple. I did take off 2 stars, because I didn't entirely understand the point of the story. Could someone explain the scene when the woman was chased out of the hotel at night? If you're intrigued by the description, or if you're a fan of graphic novels in general, I recommend that you check out this book, which is available now!

[Mallika Mahidhar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Comics / graphic novels about artists have been a recent favourite genre to read because it gives me an insight into what into their lives look like.

When I started this book, I had no idea what Matisse's life was like. Although this graphic novel talks only about Matisse's time in Tangier - over the period of one or two years - and is more of a slice of life. The characters in the book are Matisse, his wife and Moroccan locals. Since the book is about a white person (by a white person) in the early 20th century, the way Matisse views the locals and the culture is from a white man's perspective and is obviously problematic to read.

The book is mainly for the art and how beautifully they have imitated Matisse's style to narrate his story. The story is not extraordinary, apart from the way the Arabian Nights kind of storytelling hby Zorah, Matisse's model, has been incorporated within the book, and I would recommend reading it mainly for the artwork and colour work.

Received an ARC from NetGalley.

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another tragic graphic novel from Europe Comics. This was more tragic than Sixty Years In Winter. Set in the early 20th century Tangier, Morocco, the story takes liberty of the French painter, Henri Matisse's trips to Tangier on 1912 and 1913. The author takes copious liberty to portray the tragic story of a prostitute who was forced into the profession after she gave birth to an illegitimate child and the shock caused her father to die. Ostracized by her family, she's also separated from her daughter who is ostracized in her own family as well as the society she lives in. The cruel way sex workers were treated and still are is an universal theme that asks us to show them some respect and kindness. After all, theirs isn't a duplicitous profession, rather as honest and legitimate a profession as any other. Still, they're dehumanized and treated worse than dirt. It's heartbreaking.

Thank you, NetGalley and Europe Comics, for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

I wanted to preface this by saying that I went into this not knowing much about Matisse aside from the fact that he was an influential French artist. Of the modern painters, he was one of those which I knew the name but not much else so my review of this biographic comic is (excuse the pun) colored by that.

While I did enjoy the color palette and the art of the comic, I found the narrative to be a bit underwhelming as it felt incomplete. This served as a "what may have or could've been" type of historical narrative which served to fill in the blanks of Matisse's travels to Tangier, where the artist really did travel to twice between 1912 and 1913. The comic was a reimagining of sorts which meshed together fact and fiction.

But the plot felt almost superficial in its execution as there wasn't enough substance to make up for the modest page count. There was a lack of depth within the plot, which was hard to ignore and the brevity as well as the simplicity of the storytelling did the comic no favors. There was potential but I suppose I was left wanting... like a certain character at the end of the graphic novel.

Thank you NetGalley and Europe Comics for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

[Grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

Despite not knowing much about Henri Matisse, I found this to be a beautiful and accessible account of Matisse's time in Tangier, Morocco.

I am not a frequent reader of graphic novels, but I really enjoyed this one. The choice to present this story as a graphic novel worked well, given the focus on connecting the people and landscapes of Tangier to Matisse's style. I especially liked the calming blue tones throughout which helped set the thematic tone.

However, I found it hard to connect with the story and the characters. Something about the pacing and the dialogue didn't seem inspire any sort of emotion, and consequently I found it difficult to get invested. I think those with a strong interest in Art History/Matisse may not have this issue, however.

Ultimately, I would recommend this to readers who want a more relaxed read. Despite the downfalls with the story, the illustrations are truly gorgeous and very calming.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book :)