After Frances Hodgkins arrived in Morocco at the end of November 1902, accompanied by an elderly companion and chaperone, Mrs Ashington, she wrote a glowing account of her first impressions, hoping to tempt friend and fellow artist Dorothy Kate Richmond to join them. She described the marketplace, where '… anyone with anything to sell sits down & sells it. There is a corner devoted to cobblers, dwellers in tents who seem to eke out a miserable existence patching each other's old shoes… I hope to get some pictures here if I have any luck.'

Although the Medina and the marketplace provided rich subject matter, eventually the two women were forced to retreat, taking the advice of British Orientalist painter Alfred East, who stressed they would get no peace from inquisitive locals unless they retreated to courtyards or doorways to work unhindered. In Moroccan Street Vendors the dark archway in the background acts as a foil to the vendors in the foreground, who appeared to have emptied the contents of a wooden bucket and earthenware vase onto the ochre-coloured sheet spread on the ground. With a few deft strokes, Hodgkins captures the hunched figures of the traders, rather than what they are selling, while in the background, a semi-reclining seller examines his wares, under the gaze of a prospective buyer.

Essay by - Mary Kisler