The auction house was cold as usual as I walked through the door despite a heater blasting full force near the front. The auctioneer had threatened a few times to take his auction elsewhere to escape this freezer of a building.
As I moved past one table crammed with stuff – albums, new dolls, books and junk – I stopped dead still at the next one. There on the auction table was a haphazard stack of artwork, the top piece a bright watercolor of a man and woman. I was hooked; I’m always on the lookout for artwork.
I took my time and looked them over. Some had old matting. One was wrapped in clear plastic. Some had no coverings at all. Surprisingly, with little or no protection, they were in pretty good shape. They were small pieces, the largest no bigger than 8 ½ by 11.
As I looked closer, I saw that they were Haitian scenes painted by Haitian artists. I could read the signatures of some of them but not all. Why do some artists sign their works so illegibly?
This artwork was different from most of the Haitian art that comes up at auction. Most resemble tourist art – the stuff that street artists sell to those of us on vacation who want to bring back home a little of the artistic culture of island people. It’s the type I usually stay away from.
But not this. Among the pieces was a watercolor of a man’s head, side view, his dark skin as pronounced as the aqua shirt and yellowish hat that he wore. He seemed to be determinedly heading somewhere, his aim focused. These paintings showed talent and purpose. Much like the wonderful paintings of Haitian artist Jacques Gourgue that I had seen a year ago at another auction.
I knew I wanted these, primarily so I could find out more about the artists. I was hoping the auctioneer would sell them as a lot, but he offered them separately with the winner taking as many as he or she wanted. When the bidding started, two of us went at it for a short time but the other bidder finally backed off. I got all eight paintings for less than $50.
As I sat down with my precious lot, another buyer handed me a gold mailing envelope with a cardboard lining that had been on the table with the paintings and an etching by actor and artist Lionel Barrymore. The auction-goer figured that the watercolors (or at least one of them) may have been mailed in the envelope, whose front had the words “DO NOT FOLD” and whose back said “DO NOT BEND,” both written in crayon. The envelope was postmarked 1951, and it had a 7 cent stamp on it.
Once I got the works home, I Googled the artists’ names. I found that some were considered among the masters of Haitian art.
According to the Indigo Arts Gallery site, Haitian art came into its own during the 1940s when an American painter named DeWitt Peters living in Haiti opened a center offering space and instruction for both peasants and established artists. The site called this period the “Haitian Renaissance.” The Vivant Art Collection site dated Haitian art before Christopher Columbus dropped in on the island in 1492, noting the early discovery of dolls, drawings, sculptures and other artifacts.
Here are the paintings and what I found out about the artists:
I couldn’t decipher the signature on this one.
Gervais Emmanuel Ducasse was born in Port-au-Prince in 1903 and started painting at an early age. He worked as an agriculture agent for the government before settling full time into painting in 1948. His works are said to be in the Musée d’Art Haitien and the Milwaukee Museum of Art. He’s mentioned in several books on Haitian art. He died in 1988.
Raoul Dupoux was born in 1906 in Port-au-Prince and also began painting at an early age. His mother was an artist and his uncle, both an artist and composer. The painting also included the inscription ATSA, which may refer to a Canadian organization called L’Action Terroriste Socialement Acceptable (Socially Acceptable Terrorist Action), which uses urban installations and performances as a medium of social expression and education. His name was also attached to a book published in Haiti in 1954 titled “Boisrond Tonnerre: pièce en trois actes” with Marcel Dauphin.
The signature was not very clear but it looks like S. Despar.
The first name is Pierre but the last name is not clear. The piece is glued to the mat around the edges.
This is a reproduction print with a signature that looked like A. Bauer. Opposite it were the words Haitian Landscape.
This is a great collection of work. Thank you for sharing.