About Haitian Art


Philomé Obin: "Les Bourgeois du Cap-Haitien vers 1900-1919"
The sparkling vitality of Haitian art first attracted attention and admiration when self-taught artists, with no preconceived ideas of what art ought to be, began to make their contribution to Haitian life and cultural expression. The work of these sometimes illiterate, totally experimental artists portrayed the whole kaleidoscope of Haitian life and spirit with an unprecendented vividness, openness, and honesty. We cannot help but marvel at the energy and creativity with which the artists mix the everyday life with the spiritual, the supernatural and the fantastic. This natural and unadulterated art that sprang forward suddenly in Haiti in the 1940s and 50s can tell us a great deal. If we reject the over-simplistic implications of the terms "primitive art, naive art, and folk art," Haitian art can provide us with a window on a vibrant, complex, and dynamic culture. Out of a rich Afro-Indian-French-Spanish culture unlike anywhere else in the Caribbean, artists of genius waited only to be born. Their birth was presided over by the Centre d'Art, opened in 1944 by an American, Dewitt Peters. Hector Hyppolite, a priest of voudou, Philomé Obin, a provincial realist, and Rigaud Benoit, a taxi driver who decorated shaving mugs, were the first to step forward to international acclaim. The discovery of Georges Liautaud, an illiterate blacksmith whose sculptures now grace the Museums of Modern Art in Paris and New York, followed.

Andre Pierre: "Ceremony for the Forest-God"
And then came Andre Pierre, another priest of the African cult, who carried Hypolite's inspired paintings to new heights. Other pioneers of the first generation of Haitian artists such as Wilson Bigaud, Castera Bazile, Robert Saint-Brice, and Gerard Valcin have all played major roles and are historic figures in the world of naive art. From these first steps sprang a movement that developed throughout Haiti. The "peasant-painters" and "voudou painters" earned the admiration of the world. This extraordinary density of talented artists in such a small country never ceases to astonish. The well of inspiration for many of these artists is voudou, in a nation which has never renounced its ancestral roots, rhythms, and age-old myths. Many of the paintings on display here are influenced, or even dominated by, these themes.

Wilson Bigaud: "RA-RA in a Far-Out Village"
Voudou, which informs so much of Haitian art, is a highly complex religion. It establishes codes of behavior that are accepted as a way of life. The word voudou is derived from vodoun, meaning "spirit" or "deity" among the people of West Africa (from which most of the slaves bound for the West Indies were taken). Over the years, Haitians have come to use the Congo word "loa" for spirit, and voudou has come to stand for their religion as a whole. The "loas" are divided into two basic classes: Rada and Petro. Rada loas are peaceful and gentle; their Petro counterparts are characterized as aggressive and sometimes ferocious. Most loas reside in special stones, caves, trees, waterfalls and springs. Some come all the way from Africa, others travel from their "island below the water." Loas take on all kinds of shapes. They are constant, powerful forces in the lives of the people, giving advice, consolation, courage, and status to their followers.

Several of these painters you will see are hanging in the MOMA and other fine public and private collections in the United States and Europe. More of them will in the future. Presented for your enjoyment are some of the best Haitian painters of today. A short bibliography is attached for those who would like to delve into the history and mysteries of Haitian art. These books also contain some stunning illustrations of the works of Haitian artists, many of whom are on exhibition here in the Electric Gallery.