Marketplace

Rigaud Benoit (1911-1987) was a Haitian painter known as one of the most important artists of the Haitian Renaissance, the movement that brought Haitian painting to international attention in the 1940s and 1950s. Marketplace from 1965 depicts a Haitian marketplace in the colorful, narrative manner that distinguishes Benoit's best work from the more Vodou-influenced painting of some of his Haitian contemporaries. The 1965 date places this in Benoit's mature period, when he was producing the colorful, narrative paintings of Haitian life that are his most accomplished works, and the marketplace subject shows his talent for depicting the vibrant communal life of Haiti.

Marketplace is important in the history of Haitian art because it demonstrates the colorful, narrative manner that Benoit brought to Haitian subjects as one of the most important artists of the Haitian Renaissance. The Haitian Renaissance—bringing Haitian painting to international attention through colorful, narrative paintings of Haitian life—represents one of the most important developments in 20th-century Caribbean art, and the 1965 painting shows this development at its most vibrant and communal.

Marketplace is Benoit's colorful Haitian Renaissance: a Haitian marketplace rendered in the vibrant, narrative manner of one of the most important artists of the Haitian Renaissance. The 1965 painting shows the communal life of Haiti depicted with the colorful, narrative approach that brought Haitian painting to international attention.