The Market Place, Tetouan

Uncertainty remains around Lavery's visits to Tangier between 1893 and 1903 when he purchased the house on the outskirts of the city that became his winter retreat. Questions also persist regarding his adventures beyond its confines. One memorable expedition was made to Fez via Tetouan and Arzila with Walter Harris and R.B. Cunninghame Graham in the spring of 1906 which he described with great relish, but it is possible that he visited Morocco's northern capital on more than one occasion (K. McConkey, John Lavery, A Painter and his World, 2010, pp. 96-7). He is also likely to have ridden the 37 miles from Tangier to Tetouan more than once and although the sequence of small panels used to illustrate Selwyn Brinton's account of 'An English Artist in Morocco' (The Connoisseur, vol. xix, 1907, pp. 34-41), are claimed for the 1906 expedition, some may have been painted earlier. The stylistic attributes of the present work would tend to confirm this. Certainly Lavery's splendid sketch of the moon is rising over this ancient city conveys something of its serenity. Nestling in a fertile valley to the east of Tangier, and accessible overland through a mountain pass that was notoriously dangerous for western travelers, Tetouan had traditionally looked to the Levant rather than to its closer European neighbours. And at this moment, a crowd at the exit from the market place on the right of the present composition may be answering the call to evening prayer.

Laverywould also paint a nocturne of the city and a second view of the market place showing a range of low buildings with a mountain backdrop. However, of the group, the present panel most clearly demonstrates his ability as a spontaneous composer - instinctively placing the roof lines and towers by golden section, and balancing shrill notes of red and green in the colour harmony.

We are very grateful to Professor Kenneth McConkey for preparing the catalogue entries for lots 181 and 184.