Product Description
Haitian Primitivism Painting, Black Madonna by Gerard Fortune, Vintage Religious Art
Gérard Fortuné was born in 1925(more or less, read about him in our blog) and started to paint in 1978. He was a houngan, pastry chef, and painter whose art talent flourished.. His work has been internationally exhibited and belongs to the Waterloo Museum of Art's permanent collection in Iowa and the Ramapo College in New Jersey. Gérard passed away on December 8, 2019, in Haiti, but his work still lives on.
This painting depicts the Black Madonna, a representation of The Virgin Mary and the Infant Jesus.
22"x29"
Artist Bio
Gerard Fortune
Usually referred to by only his first name, Gerard was for most of his adult life a cook in a Petionville restaurant. He is unsure of his exact age, but thinks he was born around 1935. He began to paint in the early 1980's, in the small caille where he lives in Montagne Noir, above Petionville. Outside the house are scores of potted plants, a trellis blooming with beautiful flowers, and a large bird house alive with white pigeons. He paints his wonderful paintings inside the hut, which has no electricity or running water. After sundown, he works by the light of a gas lantern. He is one of the few self-taught painters left in Haiti. His work was featured in the May 1990 issue of Art & Antiques magazine and is included in most recent books about Haitian Art.