Majorelle Gardens

Larry Smart spent many years living in Marrakech in Morocco and his paintings of the Majorelle Gardens are some of his finest.

The Jardin Majorelle is a 12-acre oasis in the middle of Marrakech. It was created in traditional style by Jacques Majorelle, an illustrator and artist known for his paintings of the Berber people. However, it is the Jardin Majorelle that is his true masterpiece - it gave the world its own vibrant and distinctive colour: Majorelle blue. An intense cobalt that Larry Smart loved

New Discovery

In April I went to Marrakech, primarily for a much needed break and a bit of sunshine, but also to see if we could find any of the paintings that Larry Smart did during the 15 years that he regularly visited the city. Many people commissioned him to paint their restored riads as he could so perfectly capture the sacred geometry that underpinned the design of the tiling and plasterwork. His understanding of the mechanics and principles of this geometry meant that he could paint an image that was faithful to the original design concept, preserving the symmetry and perspectives of the creators.

Larry by Craig Sams

I first met Larry in 1967, when he was in the dance troupe Exploding Galaxy. They would perform free-style dance at the weekly hippie gathering, the UFO Club, in between sets by the Pink Floyd. They helped encourage everyone to ‘freak out’ their dancing style. In 1967 Larry married Carol Grimes, the blues and jazz singer who later performed with Lol Coxhill and the band Delivery, and they had a son, Sam. Delivery's debut performance was at our macrobiotic restaurant Seed in 1969. One of Larry's mandalas adorned their album cover.The Exploding Galaxy were part of a commune which lived in North London and took their name from a painting by Larry of the same name.

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