Winslow Anderson Collection of Haitian Art H UNTINGTON M USEUM OF A RT This catalogue is dedicated to the memory of Dan Silosky Acknowledgements The Museum wishes to thank Winslow Anderson for his consultation and assistance with this pro- ject. We are very grateful to David Fattaleh, for donating his time and expertise to photograph objects for the larger color images in this catalogue. HMA Preparator, Don Egnor, and HMA Registrar, Linda Sanns, took thumbnail photographs accompanying the checklist. We thank them and the entire staff at the Huntington Museum of Art for their interest and support of this project. Winslow Anderson Cover: Rigaud Benoit (b. 1911, Port-au-Prince, d. 1986) Les Sirènes 1956 Oil on masonite Winslow Anderson Haitian Collection A Personal View Winslow Anderson In 1948, Selden Rodman, an authority on Haitian art, published a book titled Renaissance in Haiti. I first saw it on the coffee table of a friend who, at the time, was the head of the Bureau of Cultural Relations to the Caribbean and South America. I was electrified by the illustrations of Haitian primitive paintings. At this time I did not know the difference between Haiti and Tahiti, and my friend enlightened me regarding not only the location of Haiti, but also about a man named DeWitt Peters who had begun Le Centre d’Art in Port-au-Prince. This center had become famous as the base for the beginning of most Haitian painters. My spontaneous enthusiasm for this genre of painting was a reaction to my previous art training from a zealous and devoted pupil of the renowned Hans Hofmann, whose teachings were very Germanic and based largely on the school of cubism and the beginnings of abstract expressionism. These art principles are largely cerebral and appeal to a painter in the same way a Bach fugue appeals to a musician. When introduced to the Haitian work, I saw, for the first time, fun and joy in paintings just as the musician would have fun in playing the “Blue Danube” or the “Beer Barrel Polka” as compared to a complicated fugue. My friend from the United States Bureau of Cultural Relations had previously arranged a gen- erous grant to Le Centre d’Art. A letter of introduction that he wrote to DeWitt Peters was influen- tial in my relationship to Le Centre d’Art, and to the Haitian scene to which I responded rapturously. My friendship with DeWitt Peters was instantaneous, spontaneous and genuine. It lasted throughout my many visits to Haiti from 1949 until his death in 1966. During these years I purchased many paintings – all chosen with my heart and not my head. Each one inspired me to “get to the easel” and start to paint. I sincerely hope you will all have the same reaction, and experience for yourselves the “joy of painting.” Background on Winslow Anderson Winslow Anderson was born in Plymouth, Massachusetts, May 17, 1917. Following his graduation from high school in 1935, he was for four years a handcraft potter at the Plymouth Sparrow House Pottery. He attended New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University, graduating Magna Cum Laude in 1946. Immediately following his graduation, from 1946-1953, he became the first designer for Blenko Glass Company, Milton, West Virginia. While at Blenko, Anderson’s designs won many prestigious awards, including a 1951 Museum of Modern Art Good Design Award. In 1953, he accepted the position of Design Director and Designer for Lenox China, Trenton, New Jersey, and worked there for twenty-seven years. Anderson retired in 1979, and returned to Milton, West Virginia, where he lives today. Anderson studied painting and drawing for several summers with Hans Hofmann in Provincetown, Massachusetts, and for several years took evening classes at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia, studying with Morris Blackburn and Oliver Grimley. 1 Introduction To call this group of painting and sculpture a “collection” is actually a misnomer, as that implies that it was put together with some focus and purpose. Winslow Anderson prefers to call it an “accumulation of things that he loves.” From 1948 to about 1989, Winslow Anderson made annual trips to Haiti – often visiting every six months. Each day he spent in Port-au-Prince, he visited Le Centre d’Art, and with the eye of a trained artist/designer, he carefully perused the stacks of paintings available for purchase, pulled his favorites, and in a separate room, began his own stack of works he wished to acquire. DeWitt Peters determined the price of each painting the day before Anderson departed Haiti. The two would meet, go through Anderson’s “stack,” and figure prices. Anderson would reluctantly pare his selection down to those he could afford – and one can imagine the friendly dickering that must have occurred. In his forty years of visiting Haiti, Anderson met many of the pioneers of Haitian painting, and purchased representations of their early styles. A number of works are gifts from artists to Mr. Anderson, including a copper cut-out sculpture by Georges Liautaud, an artist whose work Anderson could never afford to purchase. Anderson has favorite artists, of whom he purchased numerous works; these include Gabriel Alix, Montas Antoine, Rigaud Benoit, Préfète Duffaut, Hector Hyppolite, Jasmin Joseph, Stephane Magloire, Sénèque Obin, and Salnave Philippe-Auguste, among others. Anderson’s main criterion for selecting a work is that it has to have “form.” He was drawn to Haitian paintings for just that reason. He believes that Haitian artists, especially in the early years, had an intuitive, almost innate, sense of form. Today, he feels that many very talented Haitian artists have lost the essence of who they are; however he still finds their art marvelously decorative. This important collection of 156 paintings, metal cut-outs, and wooden sculptures, all promised gifts to the Huntington Museum of Art, have not been seen outside of the Tri-State region (West Virginia, Ohio, and Kentucky), with the exception of five works (four by Rigaud Benoit, and one by Salnave Philippe-August) that were part of the exhibition titled Haitian Art, organized by The Brooklyn Museum in 1978, which traveled to the Milwaukee Art Center, and the New Orleans Museum of Art. A selection of works from this collection has been on display at The Regional Arts Center, Centre College, Danville, Kentucky (April 5 - May 3, 1981); Southern Ohio Museum and Cultural Center, Portsmouth, Ohio (May 24 - August 1, 1981); and The Headley-Whitney Museum, Lexington, Kentucky (April 4 - June 10, 1982). The collection has been shown at the Huntington Museum of Art in 1981, 1987, and 1991, where it has been on long-term loan since 1981. The Huntington Museum of Art is indeed honored to be the recipient of this wonderful collection, and we thank Winslow Anderson for his generous support of this catalogue, his involvement with the Museum for the past twenty-five years, for his friendship, and for his undying passion for the art of Haiti and its people. The exhibition Winslow Anderson Collection of Haitian Art will be on view June 12 - August 19, 2004. Plans are under way to travel the collection, with the hope of sharing it with Haitian art scholars and collectors all over the world. Jenine Culligan, Huntington Museum of Art Senior Curator 2 Gabriel Alix (b. 1930, St. Marc, d. 1988) The Blue Vase ca. 1959 Oil on masonite Gabriel Alix (b. 1930, St. Marc, d. 1988) Bourgeoise Family 1958 Oil on masonite 3 Gabriel Alix (b. 1930, St. Marc, d. 1988) Beach Scene n.d. Oil on masonite Gabriel Alix (b. 1930, St. Marc, d. 1988) By the Stream n.d. Oil on masonite Gabriel Alix (b. 1930, St. Marc, d. 1988) The Cultivators n.d. Oil on masonite Gabriel Alix (b. 1930, St. Marc, d. 1988) The Red Gate 1958 Oil on masonite 4 Montas Antoine (b. 1926, Léogâne, d. 1988) Three Large Gourds ca. 1950 Oil on hardboard Montas Antoine (b. 1926, Léogâne, d. 1988) American Bar n.d. Oil on hardboard Montas Antoine (b. 1926, Léogâne, d. 1988) Important Personage 1952 Oil on masonite 5 Montas Antoine (b. 1926, Léogâne, d. 1988) The Big Flower 1953 Oil on masonite Montas Antoine (b. 1926, Léogâne, d. 1988) The Wager 1955 Oil on masonite 6 Alberoi Bazile (b. 1920, Jacmel) Procession 1953 Oil on hardboard Castera Bazile (b. 1923, Jacmel, d. 1966, Port-au-Prince) Work Team 1960 Oil on masonite 7 Rigaud Benoit (b. 1911, Port-au-Prince, d. 1986) The Spoilt Wedding Rigaud Benoit (b. 1911, Port-au-Prince, d. 1986) 1961 The Maiden’s Dream of Marriage Oil on masonite 1959 Oil on masonite Rigaud Benoit (b. 1911, Port-au-Prince, d. 1986) Rigaud Benoit (b. 1911, Port-au-Prince, d. 1986) The Adultery Hell 1959 1962 Oil on masonite Oil on masonite 8 Felix Bryoche (b. 1936, Trouin) Herons and Flowers n.d. Oil on masonite Bourmond Byron (b. 1920, Jacmel) Corn in Moonlight 1959 Oil on masonite Wilmino Domond (b. 1925, Jacmel) Ra Ra 1961 Oil on masonite Préfète Duffaut (b. 1923, Civadier) Jacmel 1955 Oil on hardboard 9 Hector Hyppolite (b. 1894, St. Marc, d. 1948, Port-au-Prince) Landscape #2 n.d. Oil on hardboard Jasmin Joseph (b. 1923, Grand Rivière) Ton Ton Macoute, The Initiation 1965 Oil on masonite Yves LaFontant (b. 1939, Port-au-Prince) Toussaint L’Ouverture 1950 Oil on masonite 10 Adam Léontus (b. 1923, Port-au-Prince) Feeding Time ca. 1959 Oil on masonite Gabriel Lévêque (b. 1923, Port-au-Prince) Angels Gathering Flowers 1972 Oil on masonite George Liautaud (b.