Saint–Vil, Murat (1955–   )


67. Landscape_
c1982 (12x16)
147. Landscape
c1993 (20x24)		  

   The earlier of these two works was another that I asked a favorite gallery owner to select for me. I was initially rather unimpressed with it. Later I came to appreciate St–Vil's 'semi–fantastique' landscapes. They're now prized by many collectors; and the artist has exhibited widely. (See also Michel Louissaint.)
   St–Vil began painting in 1977 following an apprenticeship with Prêféte Duffaut during which he filled in the small figures that populate that painter's fantasy scenes.

     Sanon, François (   –   )


229. 'Village'
c2000 (20x24)

 Nothing known; just liked it.

     Savain, Petion (1906–73)


5. Marché_
1972 (24x16)

 

      Savain began painting in 1927 and was the first Haitian artist to gain international acclaim. He won awards in Haïti and the United States as early as 1939 and studied at the New York Art Students League in 1941
   A teacher, lawyer, and writer — of books and of a popular newspaper column, which he gave up after Papa Doc seized power in 1957 — Savain was an original. He has inspired scores of 'market scene' imitators — most of whom try to copy the flowing semi–circles in which his figures stand, sit, and crouch. (His son–in–law, Claude Dambreville, an accomplished artist, is not among the imitators.)
   Savain is represented in many private and museum collections, including the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D C. and the Grand Central and Riverside Museum in New York.
   I bought these paintings on my first trip to Haïti. Since I purchased 'only' eleven pieces on that 1972 visit, I'm not sure why I chose two such similar works by the same artist: I assume I really liked them. In any event, by the time of my second visit Savain was dead and his prices had escalated beyond what I would have paid two years earlier. Since I love both these works, I consider that I 'lucked out.'		  

6. Marché
1972 (30x24)

     Senatus, Jean–Louis (1949–   )


 16. Scéne rurale_
c1974 (18x24)

   Senatus, born in Léogane, began his painting career in 1968 as a miniaturist — one of the best that Haïti has produced. (In 1969 he won second prize in a contest sponsored, by Air France.) Sometime in the 1970s he became a surrealist — and not, to my way of thinking, a particularly good one.

     Sèvére, Jean–Claude (1941–   )


 24. 'Les lavendeuses …'
c1976 (24x30)

   Another Philomé Obin student — said to have been a particular favorite of the old man — Sèvére is an outstanding draftsman and colorist. For several years in the 1970s Issa El–Saieh sold much of the artist's output to a single New England collector .
   According to Bill Bollendorf of the Macondo Gallery, www.artshaitian.com, in the late 1970s Sèvére submitted to economic realities. 'Needing a steady paycheck,' he gave up painting and began working as a waiter on cruise ships. While that's sad, Sèvére was not the first artist to find it difficult to make a living from his art — nor the first Haitian to find it difficult to make a living at all.
   Sèvéres are both good and hard to find.

           

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