Orientalisme et Lauréats de la Villa Abd-el-Tif Catalogue de l'exposition du 18 au 28 avril 2024. Espace Saint-Michel à Condom

An extraordinary exhibition in a magical place

It was in April 2024 that Roger and Michèle Vétillard, Jean-Marcel Lainé, and the Amicale Marcel Lizon of Quint-Fonsegrives, along with the team from the Cercle algérianiste du Gers, organized a magnificent exhibition of about a hundred orientalist works within the framework of the former neo-Gothic church of Saint-Michel in Condom.

For about ten days, nearly a thousand visitors were able to admire the works of 57 orientalist artists, all fascinated by Algeria and often residents of the Villa Abd-el-Tif in Algiers.

A tribute to Guy Forzy

This exhibition was held as a tribute to Guy Forzy, former interministerial delegate for repatriates and amateur painter. His painting "La Villa Abd-el-Tif" features on the cover of this catalog, which was created to revive and preserve this unforgettable exhibition.

A bittersweet return to Algeria

While metropolitan visitors discovered an unknown exotic world through these paintings, the French of Algeria dived back into this oriental universe that had once been their own.

Just like their parents, grandparents, and often even great-grandparents, they had been born there. They had spent their childhood and youth in this fascinating setting, from which they were so brutally deprived.

For many "pieds-noirs" visitors, this exhibition was like a bittersweet return to a happy Algeria, since they were denied "the right of men not to be driven from their childhood memories" (Jean Brune).

Table of contents:

What they think about it

Marie-Claude Montané-Séailles: The warm colors of Algeria of the past century 7

Jean-François Rousse: A most remarkable exhibition 7

Suzy Simon-Nicaise: An emotional journey 7

Robert Scheddel: A unique event in our region 8

Marie-Paule Garcia: North Africa of the Orientalists and the Abd-el-Tif 8

Michèle and Roger Vétillard: Richness and vitality of artistic activity in Algeria 8

Wolf Albes: A word from the publisher 9

Michèle Vétillard: Orientalist painters in Algeria and the Villa Abd-el-Tif 10

The artists and their works (table) 11

The artists (biographical notices) 12

List of collectors who contributed to the exhibition 22

The works (classified by author - alphabetical order) 23