There is no getting away from it, the work of Carlo A. Célius on the Haitian painter Hector Hyppolite is a scientific work. Historian, art historian, the author is Director of Research at the CNRS (National Center for Scientific Research) in France. After a series of publications on art, Carlo A. Célius had to tackle this sacred monster of Haitian pictorial art, Hector Hyppolite, one of the best known, with Philomé Obin, painters of Haiti since his exit from the Haitian Art Center founded in Port-au-Prince in 1944 by the American Dewitt Peters. To present this work, you must be a specialist in the subject, which I am not. However, in the section “ Just published » you journal Haiti Liberty, I cannot ignore this wonderful work by this author, a painter himself, having attended ENARTS (National School of Arts) in Port-au-Prince, before continuing his studies in France until becoming Director research at the CNRS. A consecration.
International recognition for his knowledge in this discipline. Indeed, Carlo A. Célius did not disappoint us in this latest opus entitled “ Hector Hyppolite. Plastic creation and autofiction » published by Éditions CIDIHCA France at the end of last year. As always, with Carlo, this is a double publication. The work itself is accompanied by an annexed book in the form of footnotes in which we learn as much, if not more, about the subject treated by the author. It must be said that the world of art, particularly the world of art history, was waiting for such a work from this scholar of plastic art who, for years, has continued to deepen the knowledge of everyone is interested in pictorial art in general. For this work on this pioneer of the great Haitian painters, the author pushes his research to the extreme, which can be described as an intellectual feat. Certainly, all Haitian painters, known or unknown, even those who refuse to take him as a model, know Hector Hyppolite discovered by Peters.
But we can be certain that this work that Carlo A. Célius has just delivered far exceeds all the work already carried out on this painter who has impressed the greatest philosophers, notably André Breton or great foreign painters like the Cuban Wifredo Lam, to the point of pushing the art critic Serge Saint-Jean to question this “famous and little-known” Hector Hyppolite. Indeed, the author does not do the work of inventing the works of Haiti’s best-known painter. Others have already tried it, such is the case of Serge Saint-Jean in 1973. On the other hand, through his research and his discoveries, Carlo A. Célius tries to restore the curiosity of the layman and confirmed scientists what they believe and thought they knew about this painter who nothing predestined to become what he had become. From the outset, the author of “ Plastic language and identity statement. The invention of Haitian art », published by Presse de l’Université de Laval (Québec), one of his previous works, always in search of profound art, leaves us to think that he is perpetually in pursuit of the holy grail in the field of art and that his appetite is insatiable.
Thank goodness he goes from discovery to discovery. Like this photograph of Hector Hyppolite taken on June 8, 1948 by Pierre Verger on his death bed published in this collection of more than 300 pages. An iconographically valuable document of which the author admits having never heard of before. But that he ends up discovering as part of his research on this extraordinary painter given the time when he emerged among many others as talented as each other to emerge as the “first” of the class. In ” Hector Hyppolite. Plastic creation and autofiction », Carlo A. Célius gives us a contemplative, enriching and instructive work to the extent that the author wanted to fill his readers with new discoveries of some works by Hector Hyppolite who, despite his great international fame since his lifetime, still continues today not to achieve unanimity among Haitian painters of yesterday and today.
The man who was the standard bearer of Haitian painting from the 1940s until long after his death in June 1948 was the victim of what we can call “the Haitianness » of Haitian pictorial art since the rise of Haitian painting precisely during the 1940s. In spite of himself, Hector Hyppolite was locked into this school of thought called “ naïve » and the creation of the Art Center under the leadership of Dewitt Peters did not help matters. Worse, the new Temple of Haitian Art even encouraged him to continue in this school of thought. He encouraged, amplified and galvanized it to the point of wanting to impose it as a “single thought” in the field of visual arts in Haiti. However, the integration of a self-taught Hector Hyppolite into the circle of Peters who had surrounded himself with fans of this art says “ Naive ” to designate Haitian art had deeply marked the works of Hector Hyppolite who became one of the pampered children of the Art Center and Dewitt Peters himself admiring the crazy talent of this peasant who became the most sought-after painter that this either in the Haitian capital, but also in Paris, London, New York, Brussels, Amsterdam, etc.
But, it’s not just the style that says “ Naive » by Hyppolite who cataloged him in the register of Third World painters. There is this obsession with this painter, he is not the only one at the time. Moreover, until today, there are many Haitian painters who only identify themselves by the representation of “voodoo” in Haitian plastic art. Hector Hyppolite, who was a pioneer in the genre, perhaps through education, cultural or family influence, rarely left this confinement for which he took full responsibility by playing the game indiscriminately. He claimed his belonging to the world of voodoo. He said to himself Hougan (Voodoo priest). His works are largely representations of this invisible and mysterious world symbolized by all kinds of praise (gods) in the voodoo religion. Hector Hyppolite could not let go of this assumed choice. In fact, he had become an avant-garde, an apostle of this “naive painting” claimed by the Art Center since its foundation. A confinement that certain young painters, from the beginning and until today, will challenge in the most radical way.
Hence the split which took place within the Art Center only two years after its creation between the supporters of the “ Haitianness » of Haitian plastic art claimed by the first school around Dewitt Peters and those, notably the painter Dieudonné Cédor, Jacques Gabriel and a few others, wanting to distance themselves from the very reductive vision, according to them, to give another perspective to Haitian art in general. Thus, Carlo A. Célius recalls the creation of a new current of thought relating to the classification of Haitian art and its globalized or universal vision. It is the Foyer des Arts Plastiques which will be the scout and ambassador in Haiti of the “New Wave” in terms of pictorial art.
The author, in his “ Hector Hyppolite. Plastic creation and autofiction “, relates that to mark their refusal in the face of the dirigisme established by the Art Center, “a large number of artists separated from it and founded in 1950 the Foyer des Arts Plastiques whose manifesto refutes all dirigisme, all confinement, all restrictive definition of art and identity, all naive exclusivism.” These rebellious or universalists are not going idly by, they detect in the leaders of the Art Center a sort of sneaky mercantilism whose desire or tendency would be to produce artists just to satisfy foreign art lovers. The author mentions that “the directors of the Art Center are accused, in particular by the painters Dieudonné Cédor (1925-2010) and Jacques Gabriel (1934-1988), of training routine workers capable of producing images responding to taste American tourists.
Indeed, it is interesting to know that, on the classification of Haitian painting called “ naïve », there is a real debate which does not date from today. From the beginning, in fact, there were two schools fighting energetically with more receptive and more sensible arguments on how to qualify Haitian painting. Carlo A. Célius, like some of us, visited the exhibition “Haiti, two centuries of artistic creations” at the Grand Palais in Paris in 2014 from November 19, 2014 to February 15, 2015.
He returned to this controversy between these two schools on the positioning of Haitian painting in Haiti or in the diaspora which is far from finding the path to an artistic or cultural truce. Moreover, this exhibition and the spotlighting with this spotlight on the plastic art of Haiti in the French capital were not the first and they will undoubtedly not be the last which will fuel the controversy. But, as the author pointed out in this very enriching book on Hector Hyppolite which I highly recommend reading, as the work is rich, masterfully documented and illustrated, this exhibition was an opportunity for the pros and anti Hector Hyppolite to take out the “battle axe”. Carlo A. Célius, a fine scientist and painter himself, did not want to take a position.
He is content to report the facts while trying to understand the position of everyone on a subject relating on the one hand to cultural nationalism “ Haitianness » of art and on the other hand of Haitian artistic genius relating to the human and the universality of art claimed by the secessionists of the Foyer des Arts Plastiques since 1950. At the Grand Palais, during the three months that Although the exhibition on Haitian art lasted, the debates were tough. Hard. Violent between the protagonists. Personally, I had witnessed as a layman jousts of rare violence between the supporters and the anti-Hector Hyppolite concerning his paintings of Bigof praise and other figures of the voodoo divinity, mystical or religious representations of the Master. The author, as a specialist and imbued with artistic culture, reports in his book a part of the controversy aroused by the painter Mario Benjamin about this exhibition which, according to him, had a mixture of genres.
This great painter who is often presented as one of the leaders of contemporary Haitian art did not understand why we continue to present Hector Hyppolite as the pinnacle of Haitian painters, while trying to find the pretexts pushing the exhibition curators to take an interest in his works. Carlo A. Célius reports an intervention by Mario Benjamin made during a radio broadcast France culture on the occasion of the Grand Palais exhibition. A short extract which says a lot about what the artist thinks of his distant predecessor “if I have to identify with someone I would remove Hector Hyppolite for example from this exhibition. I would feel much lighter because I have no relationship with this guy, (…) he is someone who is apparently in his voodoo delirium, that is what he says, is it true, is -it’s not true, I don’t care, all I know is that I don’t identify with his work.” To say the least, Benjamin is far from the road that had taken the immense painter Hector Hyppolite.
He said he doesn’t recognize himself in his work. Mario Benjamin is far from being the only one who does not want to remain in this stereotype of “voodoo painter” as most curators of painting exhibitions on Haiti want. Célius who, always in his quest to understand and as a researcher, wants to find where the devil hides in the details, cites as an example other established painters who incorporate the contribution and influence of voodoo into their works. This is the case of Patrick Vilaire recounting his ordeal with Museums and other Commissioners who always wanted a small voodoo representation in the work of a Haitian artist to be accepted in their exhibitions.
There is Ronald Mevs who made the big trip last year. Until his last breath, he always opposed this image, this vicious vision. So many other very talented painters like Gabriel Civil or Vladimir Cybil refuse the epithet of tourist painter “ Tourist art » which we want at all costs to stick on the brushes of Haitian artists. The work of Carlo A. Célius sheds light on many stereotypes in which some see Haitian pictorial art. Certainly, this book by Carlo focuses specifically on Hector Hyppolite, but the works do not stick to this theme. The author of “ Plastic creation from Haiti. Art and visual culture in the colony and post-colony » (Editions Maison des sciences de l’homme, Paris) goes even further.
By reading this work, even if you are not interested in art in the strict sense, Carlo A. Célius, with his very educational way of restoring the knowledge acquired throughout his wanderings through various countries: Haiti, France, United States, Canada in search of elements capable of making you love art, would arrive certainly to initiate you. Not only would he succeed in enlightening you about this science, through “ Hector Hyppolite. Plastic creation and autofiction » it will push you to take an interest in culture in general. In addition to the documents and information provided, the work itself is a small personal museum, as it includes countless reproductions of paintings by the master of whom it paints a portrait little known to the general public, whether Haitian or interested foreigner. to the plastic art of Haiti in general and to Hector Hyppolite in particular. The artist’s entire life was scrutinized by Carlo A. Célius, meticulous, catchy and sometimes funny.
As on page 292 where he reports the artist’s conversation with a journalist, Edith Efron Bogat, about his praise who had given him permission to devote himself exclusively to painting. I’ll leave it to you to read the rest…In any case, it’s also from his new home in Port-au-Prince, called: Here Station Paintings that Hector Hyppolite identified himself as one of the most prominent painters in the country and thus confirmed his social status in the “All cultural and artistic Port-au-Prince” of an effervescent elite. Bravo to Carlo A. Célius for making me rediscover the man who gave Haiti its first letter of nobility in the field of plastic arts and at the same time placed the country in the concert of nations with a cultural vocation in general and an artistic vocation in particular.
Hector Hyppolite. Plastic creation and autofiction by Carlo A. Célius is a publication of CIDIHCA France, published in December 2023.
WKF
