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Spirit & Strength: Modern Art from Haiti

Upcoming Exhibition

September 29, 2024 – March 9, 2025

Learn about some of the most celebrated Haitian artists of the 20th century.

Art flourished in Haiti—the world’s first Black republic—in the mid-1900s. Painters like Hector Hyppolite, Rigaud Benoît, and Philomé Obin were known around the world for their images of Haitian daily life, religious traditions, and history. Their works influenced generations of African American artists. Several, including Lois Mailou Jones and Eldzier Cortor, traveled to and worked in Haiti.

Spirit & Strength is the first chance to see 21 works by Haitian artists recently given to the National Gallery. Get an introduction to Haitian modern art and experience the remarkable creations of some of the most prominent artists in Haiti’s history alongside works by artists building upon their legacy today. Through its art, understand Haiti’s significant yet underrecognized importance in the culture of the African Diaspora.

Explore Selected Works

Spirit & Strength: Modern Art from Haiti

Andre Pierre, Mambo, early 1960s, oil on fiberboard, Gift of Kay and Roderick Heller, 2023.44.7
Spirit & Strength: Modern Art from Haiti

Philomé Obin, President Tiresias Sam Entering Cap-Haitien, 1958, oil on fiberboard, Gift of Kay and Roderick Heller, 2023.44.6
Spirit & Strength: Modern Art from Haiti

Rigaud Benoit, Marketplace, 1965, oil on fiberboard, Gift of Kay and Roderick Heller, 2023.44.1
Spirit & Strength: Modern Art from Haiti

Hector Hyppolite, Houses by the Bay, c. 1944-1945, oil wash on cardboard under glass, Gift of Kay and Roderick Heller, 2023.44.5
Spirit & Strength: Modern Art from Haiti

Myrlande Constant, Guede Djable 2 Cornes, n.d., beads and sequins on fabric, Gift of Beverly and John Fox Sullivan, 2023.43.2
Spirit & Strength: Modern Art from Haiti

Edouard Duval-Carrie, L’Aesthete Hindu, 1992, oil on canvas, Gift of Kay and Roderick Heller, 2023.44.4
Spirit & Strength: Modern Art from Haiti

Louisiane Saint Fleurant, Woman with Three Heads, n.d., oil on board, Gift of Beverly and John Fox Sullivan, 2023.43.7
Spirit & Strength: Modern Art from Haiti

Eldzier Cortor, L'Abbatoire No. 1 (Slaughterhouse No. 1), 1949, color woodcut on wove paper, Reba and Dave Williams Collection, Florian Carr Fund and Gift of the Print Research Foundation, 2008.115.42
Spirit & Strength: Modern Art from Haiti

Lois Mailou Jones, The Green Door, 1981, watercolor over graphite on wove paper, Corcoran Collection (Museum Purchase, William A. Clark Fund), 2015.19.2951
Spirit & Strength: Modern Art from Haiti

Betye Saar, Robert Franklin, Brandywine Workshop and Archives, Mystic Sky with Self-Portrait, 1992, color offset lithograph with cut-and-mounted addition on wove paper, Gift of Funds from the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation, 2023.22.45

Organization
Organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington

Curated by Kanitra Fletcher, associate curator of African American and Afro-Diasporic art, National Gallery of Art, with the assistance of Justin Brown, Samuel H. Kress Predoctoral Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, National Gallery of Art. 

Passes
Admission is always free and passes are not required

Banner detail: Andre Pierre, Mambo, early 1960s, oil on fiberboard, Gift of Kay and Roderick Heller, 2023.44.7