For over three a long time, textile artist Myrlande Fixed has depicted scenes from Haitian historical past, faith, and every day life by the large-scale, labor-intensive beaded embroidery of conventional Vodou flags. Now, her work will be part of the everlasting assortment of the Fralin Museum of Artwork on the College of Virginia, as a part of a landmark present of roughly 100 trendy and up to date Haitian artworks from collectors John Fox Sullivan and his late spouse Beverly Sullivan.
The Sullivans had been longtime members of the Haitian Artwork Society and traveled to the Caribbean nation over two dozen occasions since 1977, amassing a complete assortment of Haitian art work over the course of 4 a long time. In 2023, they gifted 15 paintings to the Nationwide Gallery of Artwork in Washington, DC, that are at present on show within the exhibition Spirit and Strength: Modern Art from Haiti.
“The Sullivan assortment contains a few of Haiti’s most famed artists and incorporates a uncommon work by Hector Hyppolite, ‘Fete du Morts’ (1946–48), that was beforehand within the assortment of Irving Berlin and has not earlier than been on public show,” Karen E. Milbourne, director of the museum, informed Hyperallergic.
Consisting of textile work, metalwork, assemblage, and work, the Fralin Museum’s acquisition options up to date painters Frantz Zéphirin and Louisiane Saint Fleurant, in addition to Twentieth-century artists like Toussaint Jacques Auguste, Rigaud Benoît, and Philomé Obin, who had been all early members of Le Centre d’Art, one of many oldest cultural organizations within the Caribbean.
“Among the many works by Philomé Obin is a self-portrait of the artist receiving a prize, in addition to complementary works by his brother Sénèque Obin, permitting a possibility to check the inventive expertise on this household,” Milbourne stated, including that lots of the works reference Haitian politics and historical past, Christian and Vodou traditions, in addition to actions like farming and fishing.
A collection of greater than 20 works will go on view within the exhibition Haiti’s Time, slated to open to the general public on August 30 and run by January 4, 2026. The present to the museum additionally contains the institution of the Sullivan Assortment Endowment for Entry and Training, which is able to help the artworks’ care, analysis, and future programming.
