Sun, 02/03/2013 – Sun, 04/21/2013
Rodale
The Museum was honored to exhibit approximately forty paintings by artists of Haiti. The exhibition was on display in the Rodale Gallery, an appropriate location given that the entire collection was acquired by Mr. and Mrs. Robert Rodale in 1986 from Jacques Lauriac, the founder of Partners for Development in Washington, D.C. Although Haitian art has in the past been referred to—and sometimes dismissed–by critics as primitive, nouvelle esthetique, or merely part of pop culture, the art of Haiti and other Caribbean nations has vaulted into popularity and importance over the last fifty years.
The Haitian paintings and sculpture in the Rodale Family Collection were surprisingly expressive and dynamic, which seems almost contradictory given the generations of poverty, repression, disease, and despair that have made Haiti one of the poorest countries in the world. This vibrant, colorful, and exuberant exhibition included work by more than twenty different Haitian artists—the generation of painters influenced by the founders of Haitian national school in the 1940s—such as Seymour Bottex, Wilfrid Deprez, Philton Latortue, Andre Normil, Francis Paraison, Prospere Pierre-Louis, Jerome Polycarpe, Alix Roy, Audes Saul, and others.
Major Sponsor: The Leon C. and June W. Holt Endowment
Sustaining Sponsor: The Audrey and Bernard Berman Endowment Fund
Supporting Sponsor: The Express-Times, ICON, Lehigh Valley Woman, Senior Style, WDIY 88.1 FM Lehigh Valley Community Public Radio