HAITIAN ART

Paintings Made in Haiti

Title: Coffee Plantation

Author: Wilbert Laurent
2013

Did You Know? In 1788, Haiti

supplied half the worlds coffee
and in 1949, Haiti was the third
largest coffee exporter in the
world.
Nowadays, in spite of political
instability and near collapse, coffee
continues as a backbone of Haitis
economy.

Title: Market Ponies

Author: Aland Estime

Did You Know? Rural Haitians are not subsistence farmers. Peasant women
typically sell much of the family harvest in regional open-air market places and use
the money to buy household foods.

Title: Something to talk about

Author: Wilbert Laurent
2013

Did You Know? In Haitian Etiquette, visitors to a household never leave emptyhanded or without drinking coffee, or at least not without an apology. Failure to
announce a departure is considered rude.

Title: Unknown
Author: Wilbert Laurent
2013

Did You Know? The Haitian

economy has become primarily
domestic, and production is
almost entirely for domestic
consumption. A vigorous internal
marketing system dominates the
economy and includes trade not
only in agricultural produce and
livestock but also in homemade
crafts.

Title: The Harvest

Author: Wilbert Laurent
2010

Did You Know? Although only 30

percent of the land in Haiti is
considered suitable for agriculture,
more than 40 percent is worked.

Title: School days

Author: Gerard LaFontant

Did You Know? Tremendous

importance and prestige are attached
to education in Haiti. Most rural
parents try to send their children at
least to primary school, and a child
who excels and whose parents can
afford the costs is quickly exempted
from the work demands levied on
other children.

Title: Market at Dusk

Author: Gregory Senechal

Did You Know? There is a thriving internal market that is

characterized at most levels by itinerant female traders who
specialize in domestic items such as produce, tobacco, dried fish,
used clothing, and livestock.

Title: Unknown

Author: Jimmy Hani

Did You Know? In the dry, treeless areas, houses are constructed of rock or
wattle and daub with mud or lime exteriors. When the owner can afford it, the
outside of a house is painted in an array of pastel colors, mystic symbols are
often painted on the walls, and the awnings are fringed with colorful handcarved trimming.

Title: Unknown
Author: Josue Joseph

Did You Know? Per capita, there are more

foreign nongovernmental organizations and
religious missions (predominantly U.S.-based) in
Haiti than in any other country in the world.

Title: Unknown
Author: Roslmor

Did You Know? In both rural and urban areas, men

monopolize the job market. However, there are a few wageearning opportunities open to women in health care, in
which nursing is exclusively a female occupation, and, to a
far lesser extent, teaching.

Title: Unknown

Author: Janet Sanon

Did You Know? Less than forty percent of the non-elite population marries.
When marriage does occur, it is usually later in a couple's relationship, long
after a household has been established and the children have begun to reach
adulthood.

Title: The Sugar Cane Harvest

Author: Louis Tales

Did You Know? A

working mans
profession can be easily
told by the tool he
carries as each man
has only one tool. If a
man is carrying a
Machete, he is most
likely to harvest
sugarcanes or chop
firewood for a living.

Title: Unknown
Author: Ysmay

Did You Know? Despite Haitians being really hard workers, real income for the
average family has not increased in over twenty years and has declined
precipitously in rural areas. In most rural areas, the average family of six earns
less than $500 per year.

Title: Unknown
Author: Jn-Claud Paul

Title: Unknown
Author: Gilbert Tataille

Title: Unknown

Author: R Francillon

Did You Know? Over one million native-born Haitians live overseas; an
additional fifty thousand leave the country every year, predominantly for the
United States but also to Canada and France. Very large numbers of lowerclass Haitians temporarily migrate to the Dominican Republic and Nassau
Bahamas to work at low-income jobs in the informal economy.

Title: Rice for Life

Author: Charly Pierre

Did You Know? Rice and beans are

considered the national dish and are
the most commonly eaten meal in
urban areas of Haiti. Traditional rural
staples are sweet potatoes, manioc,
yams, corn, rice, pigeon peas,
cowpeas, bread, and coffee.

Title: Unknown
Author: Alexander

Did You Know? In most areas, men plant gardens, but women are thought of as
the owners of harvests and, because they are marketers, typically control the
husband's earnings.

Title: Unknown

Author: Gerard LaFontant

Did You Know? Major industries in

Haiti include small gold and copper
reserves, one cement factory most
of cement in the country is imported
and a single flour mill.

Title: Unknown
Author: Aland Estime

Did You Know? Haitians generally

eat two meals a day: a small
breakfast of coffee and bread, juice,
or an egg and a large afternoon meal
dominated by a carbohydrate source
such as manioc, sweet potatoes, or
rice. Fruits are prized as betweenmeal snacks. A snack customarily is
eaten at night before one goes to
sleep.

Title: Market Joy

Author: Maccene Laurent
2011

Did You Know? Haiti is a nation of

small farmers, commonly referred to
as peasants, who work small private
landholdings and depend primarily on
their own labor and that of family
members.

Title: Island Life

Author: John Loris

Did You Know? Three-quarters of

the Haitian terrain is mountainous.
The mountains are calcareous rather
than volcanic and give way to widely
varying microclimatic and soil
conditions. Tectonic fault line runs
through the country, causing
occasional and sometimes
devastating earthquakes. The island
is also located within the Caribbean
hurricane belt.

Title: Unknown

Author: Julio

Did You Know? There is a private university and a small state

university in Port-au-Prince, including a medical school. Both have
enrollments of only a few thousand students. Unfortunately, both
have been severely damaged in the last earthquake that hit Haiti.

Title: Unknown

Author: Elie Nelson

Did You Know? Haiti is one of the most densely populated countries in the world.
Until the 1970s, over 80 percent of the population resided in rural areas, and today,
over 60 percent continue to live in provincial villages, hamlets, and homesteads
scattered across the rural landscape.

Title: Unknown

Author: Elie Nelson

Did You Know? For most of Haitis history the official language has
been French. However, the language spoken by the vast majority of
the people is kreyol, whose pronunciation and vocabulary are
derived largely from French but whose syntax is similar to that of
other creoles.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Wilbert Laurent
Born in 1974, he debuted in painting in 1981,
under close watch of his older brother
Maccene, who is also a painter that is
represented in this album. His works are well
known in Europe, especially France. His
paintings evoke memories of a fertile rural
life, with green mountain fields and
plantations.

Maccene Laurent
Born in January, 1943 in Jacmel, he is the
leading figure in the community of artists
from Marbial Valley. He started painting in
1972 under the direction of his cousin Hugh
Domond. His paintings focus on vision of
fertile rural Haiti and his works are well
known in North America and Europe,
particularly France.

Gregory Senecal
An artist since the age of 17, Gregory has
been fortunate enough to support two
children as a single father. Inspired by God
and nature, his favorite style is abstract, but
he doesnt limit himself when it comes to his
own work.

Gregory is also a participant of TOMS

Haiti Artist Collective where popular
shoe brand TOMS works with Haitian artists
to help them economically by putting
Haitian paintings on the shoes.

Janet Sanon
Born in February, 1962 in Haiti, she came from an art family. She completed
her first canvas at the age of 11, which was in 1973. Her first painting was
bought by the Gallery Monnin. In 1975 she went to Centre dArt but still
considered school as her main priority and art as a pastime. It wasnt until in
the early 80s that Janet started to take painting seriously. From 1980 she
exhibited in France, Italy and US. In 1983, She won second place in a
poster contest sponsored by Air France. From 1983 she became one of
Haitis most sophisticated painters.

Aland Estime
Aland has been working with gallery in Port-au-Prince for over 30 years.
His paintings often depict flowers and birds and are constantly on display
at the gallery. He has participated in exhibitions around the U.S including
in Washington D.C and Dallas, Texas.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The material for Did You Know? facts was taken from an
online article on Countries and Their Cultures Website at
the following link
www.everyculture.com/Ge-It/Haiti.html