Highland Park • Pittsburgh, PA 15206
galerie.macondo@gmail.com

A Gallery of Haitian Art
SINCE 1974

presents a selection of

Haitian
Steel Sculptures

 

In 1953, DeWitt Peters, the American schoolteacher and watercolorist who was instrumental , along with Haitians Maurice Borno, Geo Remponeau, Albert Mongones and others, with giving life to the modern Haitian Art movement, parked his car alongside the cemetery in Croix-des-Bouquets, a small town off the Cap Haitian road. He noticed some elaborate iron crosses that decorated the graves, and after inquiring about them, was led to the house of Georges Liautaud, a blacksmith and mechanic.

With Peters' encouragement Liautaud forged more crosses and one day made the transition to steel drums, creating representations of Haitian voudou gods and goddesses by flattening the drums and cutting out the images with hammer and chisel. Soon he took on apprentices who became internationally known "bosmetals" in their own right. His first helpers were Murat Brierre, Gabriel Bien-Aime, Serge Jolimeau, and the Louisjuste brothers. Today the Noailles district of Croix-des-Bouquets resonates with the whang of hammer on chisel on steel sheeet and the tradition of the master Liautaud is carried on by Jolimeau and by a new generation of "dwoum" artists including the Balan brothers, Julio, Joel , Jonas, and Romel and John Silvestre.

The sculptures on this page have a special provenance. They are part of the collection of James Kearns, the reknowned American painter, sculptor, illustrator, and educator, Mr Kearns aquired them from Selden Rodman, in the early 1950's. The two men were friends and often traded or gifted one another works of art.

Mr. Kearns also has works by Louverture Poisson, Robert St. Brice, and Castera Bazile.

GK JK. Georges Liautaud
Steel drum sculpture
11" high
Price on Request
*detail below
JLJJK. Janvier Louisjuste
"Erzuli"
24" Diameter
1960's Price on Request

*detail below

 
Big Picture Books Flags Steels Stories Haiti Trips Music
Postcards Archives Projects Order Here Photographs email us Bargains