MARIANO BERTUCHI NIETO (Granada, 1884 - Tetuan, 1955). "Arab scene". Ink on paper. Signed in the lower right corner. Size: 21 x 30,5 cm; 38 x 48 cm (frame). The author of this work presents us with a work that seems to be a reverie, the workmanship, the choice of the colour of the ink, and the subject matter, melt the spectator with the smoke that is reflected in the work and the intimate warmth of the scene. Known as "The great painter of the Protectorate" or "The painter of Morocco", Mariano Bertuchi is known for his style of painting, Orientalism, which was born in the 19th century as a consequence of the romantic spirit of flight in time and space. During the second half of the 19th century, however, many of the painters who travelled to the Middle East in search of this invented reality discovered a different and new country, which stood out with its peculiarities above the clichés and prejudices of Europeans. Thus, this new school of Orientalism left behind the beautiful odalisques, harems and slave markets to paint nothing but what they saw, the real East in all its everyday dimensions. Along with the change of vision came a technical and formal change; since it was no longer a question of recreating an imaginary world in all its details, the brushstroke became more impressionistic, and the artists focused less on depicting types and customs than on faithfully reflecting the atmosphere of the place, the very identity of the North African populations. Bertuchi trained in Granada, as a disciple of García Guerra and de Larrocha, and later entered the School of Fine Arts. In 1895, at the age of eleven, he took part in an exhibition for the first time and two years later won the first prize of his career. In 1899, at the age of fifteen and after his first trip to North Africa, Bertuchi presented three works in Granada and then moved to Madrid to continue his studies. That same year he presented his work in Madrid at the Biennial of the Círculo de Bellas Artes. From the beginning of the century Bertuchi took part in exhibitions at the Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid and also showed his work in Granada. In 1903, at the age of nineteen, he became a graphic reporter of the Moroccan Civil War, producing ten oil paintings on cardboard which were published in "La Ilustración Española y Americana". In 1908 he returned to Malaga to produce a series of paintings on military themes. Shortly afterwards he went to Melilla, then besieged by the Sultan's imperial troops, to make a series of sketches of their camp. In 1911 he settled in San Roque, Cadiz, and two years later, before the Spanish troops entered Tetouan, he made sketches for his painting "Entry of H.I.H. the Khalifa Muley-el Medhi into Tetouan". In 1918 Bertuchi settled in Ceuta, and from his early years there he made advertisements for the Ceuta-Tetuan Railway, a collaboration that would last for twenty years. It was also in Ceuta that he designed the sketches for the stained-glass window of the main staircase of the Town Hall, and painted a general view of Ceuta which is to be found in the former mayor's office. In 1921 he painted a triptych dedicated to Commerce, Agriculture and Industry for the Casino Africano in the same city, and the following year he took part in the decoration of the Municipal Palace, executing the paintings of the Royal Sites that adorn the Throne Room. After several years in Ceuta, he finally settled in Tetuan in 1928, where he was appointed Inspector of the Fine Arts and Crafts Services of the Moroccan protectorate. By then he was already a member of the San Fernando Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Madrid. He was also director of the Schools of Arts and Crafts in Tetuan and Targuist, as well as the Moroccan Ethnographic Museum. In 1935 he received the Order of Alfonso X the Wise. Mariano Bertuchi is currently represented in various museums in Ceuta, etc.