The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of June 8, 2023

Les Femmes Du Maroc: La Grande Odalisque

2008

Lalla Essaydi

(Moroccan, b. 1956)

Morocco

Chromogenic print mounted to aluminum with a UV protective laminate

Overall: 76.2 x 101.6 cm (30 x 40 in.)

The Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund 2012.13

© Lalla Essaydi

Location

not on view

Description

Adapted from the renowned French neoclassical painting La Grande Odalisque by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (1780–1867), this photograph belongs to a series that reflects the complex female identities in the Muslim world. Inspired by her journal, Essaydi swathed the woman’s body with Arabic text using henna—associated with special celebratory events such as puberty, marriage, and bearing a first child when the feet and hands are decorated during female festivities. Similarly in Iran, paintings of stories in illustrated manuscripts were frequently adapted from established compositions from the 1300s through the 1600s, as seen in the examples nearby.

Inscriptions

Inscription

Label on the mount, verso. The labels are at the center bottom and read as follows: EDWYNN HOUK GALLERY Lalla Essaydi (Moroccan, b. 1956): LES FEMMES DU MAROC: LA GRANDE ODALISQUE, 2008 Chromogenic print mounted to aluminum and protected with Mactac luster laminate, 30 x 40 inches. Printed under the direct supervision of the photographer. Print number 4 from an edition of 15. Signed on artist's label on mount, verso. Illustrated: Lalla Essaydi: Les Femmes du Maroc (New York (Power House Books and Edwynn Houk Gallery, 2009) p. 27; Chika Okeke-Agulu and Okwui Enwezor: Contemporary African Art Since 1980 (New York: Damiani, 2009). [LE.LFMgrande.3040.4] At the bottom in small type: 745 Fifth Avenue New York NY 10151 Tel 212 750 7070 Fax 212 688 4848

Provenance
2008–?
Lalla Essaydi, New York, NY
?–2012
(Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
2012–
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Citations
Enwezor, Okwui, and Chika Okeke-Agulu. Contemporary African Art Since 1980. Bologna: Damiani, 2009.
Essaydi, Lalla, and Fatima Mernissi. Les Femmes Du Maroc. Brooklyn, NY: PowerHouse Books, 2009. p. 27
Exhibition history

Islamic art rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 16, 2015-December 19, 2016).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2012.13