Acrylic Painting on Canvas
Sizes: 20 cm x 100 cm.
Year Created: 1996

Style / Topic

Style: Naive Art
Theme: Outdoor spaces

Préfète Duffaut (1 January 1923 - 6 October 2012) [1] was a Haitian painter. Born near Jacmel (Sud-Est Department), where he lived and worked. The painter Pauleus Vital (1918-1984) was Duffaut's half-brother, the painter Jean Charles Duffaut (* 1970) is his son. Duffaut's mother died when he was two years old.
Duffaut was one of the painters, alongside important Haitian artists such as Gesner Abelard and Rigaud Benoit, at the Center d'Art in the Haitian capital. In the early 1950s Duffaut was one of several artists invited to paint murals in the interior of the Cathedral of Sainte Trinité (largely destroyed in January 2010 earthquake) in Port-au-Prince; His works there were titled "The Temptation of Christ" and "The Processional Road" (also referred to as the "Procession of the Cross").
Duffaut paints in the vernacular style and his oeuvre typically consists of fantastical "imaginary cities" (villes imaginaires), that often contain coastal elements with boats. The cityscapes are strongly influenced by the coastal city of Jacmel. Another recurrent theme, especially in earlier works, is imagery associated with Vodou.
Duffaut's work has been exhibited and collected widely outside of Haiti. [2] [3] [4] His body of paintings continues to be a strong influence on contemporary Haitian artists such as Prince Luc (Luckner Candio).

He and his half-brother, Pauleus Vital, are the archetypical Jacmel painters. M. Duffaut was an early member of the Art Center, joining in 1946, and was one of the handful of artists selected to paint the landmark murals in the Trinity Cathedral in 1951. The church was destroyed in the earthquake of Jan 12, 2010
He is one of the few artists in Haiti to develop a style as original to be recognizable from across the street, but also widely counterfeited in Haiti. The "Ville Imaginaire" is actually an artistic rendering of his hometown. Jacmel is a hilly town on the southern coast. One of his paintings was in the collection of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. It was sold for $ 6900 by Sotheby's on April 25, 1996.
Duffaut is an enduring icon, a sacred monster of Haitian art. I have passed away on October 6, 2012 in Port-au-Prince

He is one of the few artists in Haiti to develop a style as original to be recognizable from across the street, but also widely counterfeited in Haiti. The "Ville Imaginaire" is actually an artistic rendering of his hometown. Jacmel is a hilly town on the southern coast. One of his paintings was in the collection of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. It was sold for $ 6900 by Sotheby's on April 25, 1996.
Duffaut is an enduring icon, a sacred monster of Haitian art. I have passed away on October 6, 2012 in Port-au-Prince