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A
tile–setter early in life, Gérard Valcin began painting in 1951 and quickly became one of the
most acclaimed of
Haitian artists. He's often ranked with Wilmino Domond and
André
Pierre in a trio of 'leading artists of the "second
generation."'
I
knew Valcin well and commissioned
three works from him. He also obtained, for me, a badly damaged work by
the legendary Hector Hyppolite which I later sold.
A 'near–commission' was for another piece I've
sold — Gaguerre
('Cock Fight'), the weakest of the lot. The work was mostly finished
when Valcin foisted it upon me in 1987 — in
exchange for a promise to bring him a color television set on my next visit.
When I returned to Haïti the next year, Valcin
had just died. I gave the TV to his son, home on bereavement leave from
the army — the United
States Army.
46. Woman in Red_
c1979
(30x24)
102. 'Papa Zaca'
1985 (24x20) |
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My
very first Valcin, Woman in Red, came from a gallery. I admire it anew each time it enters my field of vision. The woman is
placed exactly where she ought not to be — dead–center in the
painting. But the scheme works because of the way the artist exaggerates perspective
in rendering the plants. (In early 2006 Galerie
Metisse was offering a similar, though much smaller
work, for $3,900. See the enlargement.)
Though
I had asked
for paintings of Coumbite
and Papa Zaca, I was disappointed when I picked them
up: they are near–copies of
works Valcin had done previously. He produced, in fact, several other Coumbites — the
coöperative Haitian harvest. Mine is as good as any; but it's
still a third, or a seventh, or…. (Clicking the thumbnail allows
comparison with one other rendering.)
Papa Zaca,
the harvest god, is a special favorite of most Haitians. For good
reason. He's always shown gorging himself — an excess that can only be
a dream for most hungry Haitians. (An earlier version of Papa Zaca appears on the cover of Ute
Stebich's Haitian Art:
see Reading.)
Cérémonie pour Grande
Brijitte, on the other hand, is an original. Valcin told me
he'd never painted a Brijitte, but had always wanted to — and he offered me a 'special
price' if I'd agree to 'commission' one. It was an offer I couldn't
refuse.
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101. 'Coumbite'
1984
(30x24)
109. 'Cérémonie pour Grande Brijitte'
1986 (24x20) |
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I
love all my
Valcins, and Woman in Red is a favorite, as a first of anything often is,
but it is not my very
favorite.
Agoué
is. I first saw the work in a gallery
owner's Port–au–Prince home about a year after it was painted. It wasn't for sale.
'It's my favorite Valcin,' the dealer said. Over
five
years later — and nearly three years after Valcin's death — the gallery
owner said he needed a new car. I got the painting — and by far the better
half of the
deal.
Gerard Valcin was, like all too many Haitian artists, an
alcoholic. According to a friend who knew him well, Valcin spent
his mornings and afternoons painting and his evenings and nights
drinking. He might have lived a good deal longer but for his
addiction to rhum. But life in Haïti can easily drive one to
drink.
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115. 'Agoué'
1984 (24x48)
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