30. 'Diego Rivera recoit Toussaint
L'Overture…'
c1974 (16x12)
Joseph began
drawing as a schoolboy and in his early 20s studied at the
Port-au-Prince School of Art. He soon despaired of making a living from
his art and moved into a variety of jobs: he worked for the National
Service for the Eradication of Malaria and later operated a hair
dressing salon. For years he
painted little and only in his spare time.
In
1974 the fine sculptor Ludovic Booz persuaded Joseph to return to his art full–time. He's
since focused on small, exquisitely
detailed works, beginning with historical scenes. He is today Haïti's
supreme miniaturist.
Diego
Rivera, a Dominican national hero, is said to be the first 'international' leader to
recognize the independence of the ex–slaves' nation, though Ethiopia also
claims that honor. Haïti responded, a
few years later, by invading and occupying its neighbor — and freeing the
colony's relatively small slave population.
