Rigaud benoit haitian artist list

Haitian artist

Rigaud Benoit (1911–1986) had become one of the three or four most highly prized Haitian artists well before his death.

Rigaud benoit haitian artist list

Early life

A native of Port-au-Prince, Benoit had been a shoemaker, musician, and taxi driver before making his living as a painter. He had also supplemented his income by painting pottery pieces he rarely signed or acknowledged.

Career

Benoit was an early member of the Haitian art movement known as Naive Art, so-called because of its members' limited formal training. The movement was first recognized and promoted by the Centre d'Art, founded in 1944 by the American Quaker and World War IIconscientious objectorDewitt Peters.

According to a widely repeated story, Benoit was working as Peters's chauffeur in 1944 when he saw some of the first works displayed at the Centre d'Art. He i