French Representations of North African Men Under Colonization
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COLONIAL SUBJECTS: FRENCH REPRESENTATIONS OF NORTH AFRICAN MEN UNDER COLONIZATION Robin Holmes A dissertation submitted to the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Art History. Chapel Hill 2021 Approved by: Daniel J. Sherman Glaire D. Anderson Eduardo de Jesús Douglas Donald Reid Lyneise E. Williams © 2021 Robin Holmes ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT Robin Holmes: Colonial Subjects: French Representations of North African Men Under Colonization (Under the direction of Daniel J. Sherman) This dissertation analyzes representations of North African men by French painters Henri Matisse, Jean Dubuffet, and sculptors Charles Cordier and Paul Landowski. These images span the period between the conquest of Algeria and its independence. Popular images of North African men proliferated in France between 1830 and 1962 in the form of postcards, souvenirs, travel guides, and newspapers. In more specialized circles North Africans were the subjects of luxury objects, scientific journals, government surveys, as well as sculptures, paintings, and monuments. I emphasize images of men and masculinities that arose out of visual languages of anthropology, the history of European art, and the construction of racial and religious difference. Works of art formed and reinforced stereotypes governing French opinion and policy about North Africans. Since men formed the major groups of soldiers and local officials interacting with the French in Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco, their portrayal tells an important part of the colonial story. This study critically reassesses French images of North Africa in contexts of decolonization, whiteness, and gender studies. iii To my Family in the widest and wildest sense of the word. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am indebted to several institutions and individuals who supported me during this work, for which I am deeply grateful. Daniel J. Sherman has shepherded this project and my scholarship through many twists and turns. His patience and attention to conceptual and practical detail have made this work possible. I return often to his books and lectures; both are rich in material and prose. For his continual support as I formed these ideas through development, research, writing, and revision I am thankful beyond measure. I am grateful to Lyneise Williams for her enthusiasm and precise clarity at pivotal moments during this process, her wisdom has framed my work here and beyond. Many thanks to Glaire D. Anderson for her scholarly rigor and generosity, as well as many cups of tea. Early conceptions of this work and research came out of courses I took with professors at UNC Chapel Hill and Duke University who pushed me to think critically in new ways. I appreciate the support and encouragement of Eduardo de Jesús Douglas, Carol Magee, Donald Reid, Patricia Leighten, and the late Mary Sheriff. The guidance and mentorship of Carolyn Allmendinger has been invaluable in shaping my thinking about museums and objects. Thanks to Josh Hockensmith at the Sloane Art Library who provided enthusiasm and access to many oversized nineteenth- century publications. I conducted early research in France thanks to a Summer Research Fellowship from the Graduate School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I carried out much more extensive research in Paris, Senlis, and Aix-en-Provence thanks to a Bourse Chateaubriand and v the generous sponsorship of the Franco-American Commission and Dominique Poulot (Université de Paris 1). I was able to finish my research in France thanks to the funding of the Georges Lurcy Fellowship through the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Many thanks to the archivists and art historians in France and Algeria who facilitated my research and offered me guidance, especially Afsaneh Girardot at the Musée des Années Trente, Georges Matisse at the Archives Matisse, Samyra Benyelles at the Faculté d’Alger, and Mohamed Djehiche at the Musée d’Art Moderne d’Alger. I am indebted to Amina Menia for sharing her work, her wisdom, and the words: “Circumnavigating is now part of my process.” For their camaraderie, critical feedback, and many delicious dinners, I am very grateful to Davenne Essif, James Rice, Leila Armstrong, Michael Weitz, Katherine Rice, Heidi Russell, and Heather Kreilkamp. Thanks especially to Cheryl Sitzler for translation and interpretive help and for her invaluable work as a mentor, role model, and tatie. This work happened because of the friends and family who made my travel and writing possible by surrounding Gavin with love and laughter, and by lifting me up again and again. To Alicia Holmes, Bill Domer, Randee Zitelman, Nick Giese, Ben Skye, Chelsea and Shannon Powell, Cameron Domer, Beth Fischer, David Edelman, Christina Fredette, and again Cheryl Sitzler: Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Most of all, thanks to Gavin for giving me purpose. You are North on my compass. vi PREFACE Translation All translations from the French are my own. Language has been a key component of this study. As an anglophone scholar I acknowledge that to describe North African people colonized by the French as Black risks removing some nuance of the French discourses around color difference. Contemporary activists and scholars often use the term ex-colonisé-e-s (ex-colonized), a term that honors the historical disparity of formerly-colonized identities, ethnic variability, and gender identities while writing in the complexity of gendered French language. However, this term is not appropriate in historical discussions of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The term noir-e-s (black-s) was rarely used in my sources and was certainly not capitalized. Some identity labels used geographic locations like Africain, de Soudan (African, Sudanese), but more often ambiguous “racial” classifications were used, like Moorish, Arab, Mixed. Where I have most often used the term Black is in discussions where the primary sources used nègre, an explicitly pejorative term that can be translated as black-skinned or negro, yet carries its own linguistic history apart from these English terms. Where nègre appears in my sources I have left it in French, yet I want to affirm that racism is not a solely French nor historical problem and I continue the struggle toward accurate and equitable language. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................................ x CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................... 1 Ideology and Images ........................................................................................................... 8 Chapter Outline ................................................................................................................. 13 CHAPTER 2: CHARLES CORDIER AND BEAUTE QUI DIFFERE ....................................... 20 Where is Orientalism?....................................................................................................... 28 Algerians ........................................................................................................................... 40 French Anthropology and Racial Typing ......................................................................... 45 Museums ........................................................................................................................... 53 CHAPTER 3: MATISSE AND TOURIST TRAVEL .................................................................. 63 Chasing the “light” ............................................................................................................ 63 The Protectorate and Rif-region Politics........................................................................... 71 Matisse and the Rif ........................................................................................................... 73 Riffian Men ....................................................................................................................... 78 Locating the Rif ................................................................................................................ 88 Seated Riffian .................................................................................................................... 90 CHAPTER 4: PAUL LANDOWSKI AND RELENTLESS IDEALISM .................................... 96 Troupes Indigènes ........................................................................................................... 102 Landowski, the Academy, and Modernism .................................................................... 107 Landowski and the Politics of Commemoration ............................................................. 110 La Victoire: From Lyautey to Liberté in Morocco.......................................................... 112 viii Concrete Difference: Le Pavois in Algeria ..................................................................... 120 CHAPTER 5: JEAN DUBUFFET BETWEEN ORIENTALISM AND PRIMITIVISM ............................................................................................................................ 140 Algeria as Place and Idea ................................................................................................ 141 Art Brut and the “Primitive” ..........................................................................................