Obin, Philomé (1892–1985)
Obin, Philomé (1892–1985)
Philomé Obin (b. 1892; d. 1985), Haitian painter. Obin was the head of an extensive family of artists in Haiti whose brothers Othan and Senêque and their children continue the tradition. Obin founded the school of northern realists in Haiti and is linked stylistically and thematically with the naïfs movement. His bright colors, voodoo-inspired scenes, and tropical lighting share much with the later works of Wilson Bigaud. Obin became a Mason in 1918 and subsequently abandoned Catholicism for the Baptist church. He considered himself to be both a historian and an artist, because many of his best works deal with historical events and people: the revolutionary epoch, King Christophe, and the building of the Citadelle. Obin's masterpiece is The Funeral of Charlemagne Péralte (1947).
See alsoArt: The Twentieth Century; Vodun, Voodoo, Vaudun.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Selden Rodman, The Miracle of Haitian Art (1974).
Eleanor Ingalls Christensen, The Art of Haiti (1975).
Madame Shishi, "Les Naïfs Haitiens": An Introduction to Haitian Art and History (1982).
Additional Bibliography
Grandjean, Michéle. Artistes en Haïti: Cent parmi d'autres. Marseille: Art et coeur, 1997.
Karen Racine