Prosper Pierre-Louis
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Prosper Pierre-Louis (1947-1997), Haitian artist, painter; one of the main contributors to the local school of Saint Soleil art movement. His black and white paintings of voudou loas are especially noteworthy.
Pierre-Louis was born on October 12, 1947, in Bainet, near Jacmel, Haiti. Did not attend any formal schooling, but tought himself playing on drums and the violin. As a kid he assisted his father, a houngan, in preparing voudou ceremonies. At age 16 he moved to Port-au-Prince. Here he takes a number of odd jobs, when later working as a waiter at the home of Maud Robard joined the "Saint Soleil" peasant commune organized by the latter and which united many poor artists, singers, dancers, craftsmen and painters into the movement. Prosper followed Maude to the community at Soisson-la-Montagne on the mountain above LaBoule and eventually became the most prominent painter in the group.
Saint Soleil group disbanded after only a few years but five of the artists, Prosper, Levoy Exil, Denis Smith, Paul Dieuseul and Louisiane St. Fleurant reorganized into the group "Cinq Soleils". With years Prosper's technique has greatly evolved and he become a prominent and respected part of the local art community, but his career has stopped abruptly. He died prematurely of an asthma attack in November 1997.
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