Paintings by Celestin Faustin

Celestin Faustin was born in Lafond, Haiti in 1948. When he was nineteen, the famous painter Wilmino Domond took him as an apprentice. Faustin, quickly bored with this regime, quickly moved to work independently. The bright colors and flat design of his early works show Domond's influence, while his later work became more personal and complex. Before his death fifteen years ago, Faustin was clearly one of the most extraordinary modern Haitian painters, with seemingly limitless possibilities.

As explained in the wonderful book Haitian Art by Ute Stebich, "Faustin was named after his grandmother Celestina, who exercised a lasting influence on his life. Famous as a 'wise woman,' she was profoundly involved in Vodou. Through her constant communication with the loas, she learned that her grandson was claimed from birth by Erzulie Dantor. She ascribed Celestin's exceptional gifts and success to the power of the goddess. On one hand fascinated and attracted by the religious fervor of his ancestors, Faustin was on the other hand revolted by it and was torn between accepting and refusing their beliefs. His paintings are statements of this ambivalence." 


"Paradis"

(Adam & Eve)
24x48 in.
oil on panel
framed $6500

  
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