Georges Liautaud (Haitian, 1899-1991) 11"x7" BLACK MAN/ANIMAL c1970 Steel-Cut Sculpture #2GN-HA

Georges Liautaud was born in Croix Des Bouquets in 1899 and died in 1991. He is a blacksmith, which undoubtedly explains his choice of iron as his medium of expression. Dewitt Peters discovered him in 1953 through the crosses he had made, which grace his hometown cemetery and bear a remarkable resemblance to “Vévés.” His artistic career began when he delivered his first sculpture to the Art Center.

 A kind and intelligent man, Liautaud philosophically accepts his international reputation. He has never left his blacksmith’s shop in his native village, where visitors to his home are welcomed in his kind and smiling manner.

 His work, renowned and sought after worldwide, including European and American museums, makes him Haiti’s most excellent tin and wrought iron sculptor. He believes his talent is a gift from God. His creations vary from the abstract to the figurative. Steeped in Voodoo traditions, Liautaud creates mermaids, devils, fantastical animals, and traditional deities. (La Peinture Haitienne/ Haitian Arts by Marie-José Nadal and Gérald Bloncourt, Editions Nathan, Paris, 1986, pp. 71)

 Liautaud’s works have been exhibited internationally in places such as the Grand Palais, the Centre Pompidou, the Abbaye de Daoulas, the Fowler Museum, the Brooklyn Museum, the Frost Museum, the Bass Museum, the Halle Saint-Pierre, and the Musée de Montparnasse. His work is part of the permanent collections at the MoMA in New York, the Milwaukee Art Museum, the Davenport Museum, the Waterloo Museum, the Huntington Museum of Art, the Figge Art Museum, the Fond national d’art contemporain de France, the Musée National d’Art Moderne de Paris, the Musée de l’OEA, Le Centre d’Art, the Musée d’Art Haïtien du Collège Saint-Pierre and the Musée de Panthéon National Haïtien.