Haitian Art at the Tampa Museum of Art

Detail from "Wedding" by Micius Stephane (1972) 

Sometimes an exhibit is so full of life I can't help but smile. "A Passion for Haitian Art: The Albrecht and Heller Collections" is just that type of show. The exuberant depictions of everyday life are "naive" art at its finest. And then of course there are the works that portray Vodou traditions. But more on that later. 

It wasn't until the 1940s that Haitian artists began to exhibit in an organized fashion. The Centre d'Art in Port-au-Prince was founded in 1944 by American artist DeWitt Peters and a group of Haitian intellectuals. The country finally had a gallery, museum and art school. Perhaps most importantly, though, the Centre quickly became a place where artists could gather and share their work and ideas. The Centre is credited with both the development of many Haitian artists and a significant increase in the appeal of their work in the international market.  

By Gervais Emmanuel Ducasse

Micius Stephane was a cobbler turned painter. He was encouraged to move to Port-au-Prince by Peters and became active in the Centre. His paintings are filled with joy. That seems appropriate, since two of his works on display depict wedding scenes. I particularly like this detail of his painting simply entitled "Wedding." What you can't see in this detail is that people have come out on their porches to watch the procession. It's a community event. To see the entire work, click here. (Yes, I had to link to my own Facebook post because I couldn't find the work elsewhere.) And for more of Stephane's work, click here.

Gervais Emmanuel Ducasse came to painting in a roundabout way. He worked as an agricultural agent for the government until the position was eliminated due to budget cuts. Ducasse had to find a new way to support himself, so he became an artist. That says a lot about the way the market for Haitian art had developed by the late 1940s. 

In this work, Ducasse depicts women taking their fruit to market. I suspect they might not look so happy in real life as they trudge barefoot through the heat balancing heavy baskets of fruit on their heads. But who's going to buy a painting that depicts that reality? To see more of Ducasse's work, click here. I particularly like his "Self-Portrait in his Studio." 

"Maman Brigitte" by Andre Pierre (1969)

And now for a bit of art featuring Vodou themes. Shown here is Andre Pierre's painting of Maman Brigitte, a female deity of life and death in Haitian vodou. If it's your time, she'll help you with the transition; if not, she'll nurse you back to health. 

While Pierre went in a different direction, the goddess is usually pictured drinking rum with red peppers. And while it would be challenging to reflect this in a painting, she's known to swear a lot. Basically, she's a bad ass. 

Pierre depicts Maman in an elaborate purple dress, a sign of the sophistication of the goddess. The painting includes a small portrait of a man in the swirl on the bottom right who I believe to be her husband Baron Samedi. The Baron is the god of the dead, but he's a story for another day. 

As for Pierre, he's another of Haiti's talented self-trained artists. He was also a Vodou priest, and his earliest paintings were done on gourds that decorated the houmfour (or temple) where he practiced. He would sing and pray while creating his art. In the late 1940s, American filmmaker Maya Deren came to Haiti to make a film about dance. Instead, she became a practitioner at Pierre's temple. Deren is credited with encouraging him to paint on canvas and display his work at the Centre d'Art. 

"La Sirene" by Joseph Oldof Pierre (1980s)

I'll leave you with a work from an adjacent exhibit featuring sequined Drapo Vodou, or ritual flags. In the 16th c., West Africans were brought to what is now Haiti as slaves. Their beliefs, combined with religious beliefs and practices of Europe and the Americas, became what is known today as Vodou. The flags reflect the history of Vodou in Haiti. 

A good amount of bling is customary in Drapo Vodou, and each flag on display included between 2,000 and 20,000 sequins and beads, all hand stitched in the traditional way. That's a lot of detail work. The design shown here, with its central image inside a geometric border, is also typical. 

This flag was created by Joseph Oldof Pierre, a Vodou priest. Here he's chosen to depict La Sirene, the Goddess of the Sea and Waves. La Sirene is associated with beauty, jewels and wealth and is known for her beautiful voice. The trumpet in her right hand is apparently a clue to her talent, but of course you can't sing and play the trumpet at the same time. The megaphone looking object in her left hand would, however, be useful when she's belting out a tune. 

All in all, it was a terrific outing to the Tampa Museum of Art. "A Passion for Haitian Art: The Albrecht and Heller Collections" runs through March 17, 2024, so there's plenty of time to get there. "Sequin Arts: The Flagmakers of Haiti" is on view for an extended period, with plans to rotate different flags from the Museum's collection in and out over time. I'm looking forward to seeing more.