Merise, Fritz (   �   )


111. Woman at Dressing Table_
c1988 (24x20)

    This early Merise is, in my judgment, altogether superior to his later work. He now does mostly gaudily colored jungle and anthropomorphic animal scenes � tigers playing poker, that sort of thing. They apparently sell well: he has become a gallery favorite.
   Here he has captured the the delight of a young woman turning to greet her lover � or so my wife tells me.
   Note the paintings on the woman's walls. Compared with my house, she has room for many, many more.

 

     Mesidor, Jacksin (   �   )


 79. Jacmel Wedding
     c1985 (20x24)

 Nothing known: just liked it.
   I think I recognize the place, in the lovely southern Haitian town of Jacmel, where this wedding scene is set. If I'm wrong, that's all right. The setting reminds me of Jacmel.

 

 

 

     Michaud, Yves (1950�   )

217. Strip Tease
        1997 (20x24)

  

 227. Country Wedding
         2000 (24x30)

      In the 1970s, as a young and aspiring artist, Yves Michaud studied with Neh�my Jean. Later he 'painted side�by�side' at a Petionville gallery with Carlo Jean�Jacques, a brilliant artist who died of AIDS, just 46 years old, in 1990
   Michaud is an outstanding artist who portrays everyday life � and special moments � as well as or better than any other Haitian artist I've seen.

 

  

   In Strip Tease a woman may be trying to attract the man's interest, while he nonchalantly snuffs out a cigarette. (Ashes and butts are clearly visible in the ashtray he's reaching for.)

   Alternatively, she may be nagging him about something, or ... viewers may read into the scene any number of meanings.
   The 'performer' may be a lady of the night: Michaud has painted a number of brothel scenes.

      Country Wedding is among my very favorite Haitian paintings. Click on the painting for an enlargement and a brief appreciation of the work.

 

 

 

 

 

      

     Michel, Frantz (   �   )


 80. Coumbite
 c1985 (16x20)

 Nothing known: just liked it.
   The coumbite is a collective harvest. I have representations of it by several artists � most notably by G�rard Valcin.
   (The white paint representing cotton buds was so heavily applied that it was still squishy years after I bought the painting.)

 

           

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