André Pierre, one of the giants of Haitian art, has joined the spirits. A houngan or vodou priest in the village of Croix-des-Missions, he became one of Haiti's greatest painters, considered by many the artistic heir to the houngan master painter, Hector Hyppolite.
Issa was not a painter himself (although he was a very talented musician and bandleader), but nevertheless was one of the most important figures in Haitian art over the last fifty years.
We were privileged to host one of Cuba's leading self-taught artists, José Garcia Montebravo, on his visit to Philadelphia on Wednesday, July 17th, 2002.
Perhaps the last great master of Haitian "primitive" art (the other being P.J. Valcin, below), Alexandre Gregoire passed away at his home in Jacmel, Haiti on July, 28, 2001.
I visited Cuba in February and March 2000, while people in both our countries had been worked into a frenzy over the fate of a six year old boy named Elian.
