Mr. Duffaut is a well-known Haitian artist who was born in Jacmel in
1923. He was a taciturn introvert youth, who lived through an unhappy
childhood ruled by an incompetent mother, with drawing as his only expressive
outlet.
He recounted that the Virgin Mary appeared to him in a dream at La Gonave
Island, leading him to produce an ornamental sculpture for the chapel
dedicated to her. He had been working with his father as a boat builder,
but quit his job to pursue his new talent. Rigaud Benoit helped guide
him in his new found occupation. In 1950-51 he painted "The Temptation
of Our Lord" and "Native Street Scene Procession" murals in the Holy Trinity
Cathedral in Port-au-Prince.
A naive painter, he started out doing highly precise paintings of his
hometown, then shifted toward a style at times sophisticated and at times
fantastic. He is world renowned for his mountainous landscapes with serpentine
roads and his crowded street scenes. His imaginary villages where all
lines point towards the heavens and his use of color, especially red,
blues, and yellows are quite distinctive and very popular. These fantastic
scenes carry meanings which are related to his personal mystical beliefs
and voodoo mythology. Duffaut's style is widely popular and unfortunately
widely copied by many with varying degrees of success. His work is exhibited
in the States, Europe and Japan.
