Simone Lorimy-Delarozière
(Chelles, France 1905 - 1987 Pertuis, France)

Portrait of Morrocan Woman from Fez, c.1938

signed lower right ‘S. Lorimy-Delarozière / Fez 1938’

oil on canvas
63 x 53 cm.

(framed 84 x 73 cm.)
in a period frame

Portrait of Morrocan Woman from Fez is a work of notable sensitivity and technical accomplishment. Beyond the purely decorative conventions often associated with Orientalist portraiture, Lorimy-Delarozière brings a striking psychological presence to her sitter. The woman’s pensive expression is rendered with remarkable subtlety and realism, while the handling of the veil and drapery demonstrates a refined understanding of colour, texture, and light. The composition balances intimacy with dignity, suggesting an artist deeply engaged with both her subject and her surroundings.

Despite the quality of her work, little about is known about Delarozière. Recently, a work created by several women, including Lorimy-Delarozière, received the 2023 Grand Pilgrim Heritage Prize. The work, a Stations of the Cross, was created in the mid-1930s by a trio of female painters: Marthe Flandrin (1904-1987), Simone Latron (1905-2000), winner of the Prix de Rome for engraving in 1930, the wife of his brother Paul Flandrin, and Simone Lorimy-Delarozière (1905-1987). A meager recognition for this little-known but undeniably talented artist.