NICHOLAS ANGELO
FINE ART

Essentially there are four Schools of Haitian Art. Most of them are very influenced by a mixture of voodoo, Catholicism and African culture. They are brightly colored, almost fantasy expressions of life.

The Cap Haitian School is very different than most Haitian art in that it focuses almost exclusively on history, architectural interiors and exteriors using reasonably accurate and linear attempts at capturing Haitian life. The Cap Haitian School rejects voodoo and most spirituality. Instead it emphasized reality. While not as romantic as most Haitian art collectors have learned to know and love it as perhaps the most powerful of all schools in reflecting the real Haiti.

Henry Thezume was a master at capturing everyday Haitian life. Although a self taught artist, he was very methodical in creating his canvases and as a result, the viewer has a sense of being there and being part of the scenes he depicted. They are often times stark scenes of medical clinic, hospital wards, etc. But he also captured children learning and people having fun s well as working. His interior paintings are often dark compared to typical Haitian art where people are always dressed in brightly colored clothes. But if you look at a window to the outside, the florals are always bright and the sun is always shining ... Haiti peeping through.

One of the unique characteristics of Thezume's's paintings is the unusual "hallmark" he created and used as part of his signature ... he drew a short staircase below his signature on each painting. When asked about the staircases, he said that each painting brought him nearer Heaven.

Oil on Canvas - Image Size: 20" X 24" - "Doctors Office"