Houses by the Bay

Hector Hyppolite (1894-1948) was a Haitian painter known as one of the founders of the Haitian Renaissance, the movement in Haitian art that brought vernacular Haitian painting to international attention in the 1940s. Houses by the Bay from c. 1944-45 depicts a Haitian coastal scene in the vibrant color and flat, decorative manner that distinguishes Haitian vernacular painting. The c. 1944-45 date places this at the very beginning of the Haitian Renaissance, when Hyppolite and other vernacular painters were being discovered by the Centre d'Art in Port-au-Prince and brought to international attention by Andre Breton and other Surrealists who recognized the Surrealist quality of Haitian vernacular painting.

Houses by the Bay is important in the history of Haitian art because it comes from the beginning of the Haitian Renaissance, the movement that brought Haitian vernacular painting to international attention. Hyppolite was discovered by the Centre d'Art in Port-au-Prince in 1944, and his vibrant color and flat, decorative manner were recognized by the Surrealists as having the same spontaneous, visionary quality that they sought in their own work.

Houses by the Bay is Hyppolite's Haitian Renaissance painting at its most vibrant: a coastal scene in the flat, decorative manner and brilliant color that brought Haitian vernacular painting to international attention. The c. 1944-45 painting comes from the very beginning of the Haitian Renaissance, when vernacular painters were being discovered by the Centre d'Art in Port-au-Prince.