Tamara Baussan (Russia,1909-Haiti,1999)

Tamara Baussan (1909–1999) was a pioneering painter and one of the earliest professional women artists active in Haiti. Born in Baku, Russia, she learned painting as a child and later traveled to Paris in the late 1920s to study at the École des Beaux-Arts. During her years in Paris, she met Robert Baussan, a Haitian architecture student whom she later married. The couple moved to Haiti (sources cite 1931 or 1942), where Baussan became an influential figure in the country’s developing modern art scene. Baussan was an essential collaborator in the founding of the Centre d’Art in Port-au-Prince in 1944, one of Haiti’s most important institutions for artistic training and exhibition. She is also associated with the Atelier de la Tête de l’Eau, a vital creative circle that brought together women painters, including Andrée Naudé and Michèle Manuel, and helped shape the visibility of female artists in Haiti. Known for strong draftsmanship and a vibrant palette, Baussan’s work is distinguished by expressive color that intensifies the impact of her compositions. As Haitian art critic Gérald Alexis observed in Peintres Haïtiens, her use of vivid color “heightens the power of her drawings.” Tamara Baussan died in Pétion-Ville, Haiti, in 1999, and remains an important figure in the history of Haitian modern art and women’s artistic contributions. Scroll down to make your selection (s)!