The Morocco Diaries, Part 7 of 10: Jardin Majorelle, Marrakech

A labour of love, nearly lost. What began as a passion project by the acclaimed French painter Jacques Majorelle (1886-1962) would eventually become his magnus opus, surpasing even his famous portraits and paintings of Moroccan street life. Jacques Majorelle first painted the facade of his studio in what is now known as “Majorelle Blue” – an intense ultramarine inspired by the Atlas Mountains, intended to “evoke Africa”. Majorelle Blue then spread to the gates, the pergolas, and the pots; turning the entire property into a monochrome vision. Likewise, his garden grew: Majorelle would bring from his travels plants from five different continents. The amateur botanist would become a master gardener; acquiring hundreds of rare varieties of flora: cacti, palms, bamboo, white water lilies, and bougainvilleas; to name a few. The result, arranged along a long central basin and acres of meandering walkways, would be an exotic and otherworldy vision, a “cathedral of shapes and colours”.

It would take Majorelle forty years to create his living masterpiece, but far less time for a series of personal tragedies (accidents, financial difficulty, abrupt passings) to very nearly destroy one of Marrakech’s most-loved and iconic sites.