Author(s): Jeanette Hoorn

Art

Hilda Rix Nicholas's Moroccan oils are fascinating early experiments in the post impressionist technique learned by the Australian artist in the ateliers of Belle 'poque Paris of Henri Matisse. But they are not the only legacy of the time she spent in Tangier in 1912 and 1914. Together with her sister Elsie, Hilda wrote postcards and letters to their mother Elizabeth in London. Published here in detail for the first time, Jeanette Hoorn draws upon the letters written from Tangier by the Rix sisters to illuminate the artwork and the amazing travel adventures of these two Edwardian women. Adorned with sketches and drawings, the letters provide vivid descriptions of the people and landscape of this cosmopolitan North African city. Her study brings to life the experiences of Hilda and Elsie Rix in North Africa before World War I, presenting a critical reading of Orientalism and how the two women came to understand a place and a culture very different from anything they had previously known.