In this work, a young girl cradles a white oil lamp in her hands. Such lighting is common in Haiti as not all homes have access to electric lighting. She is wearing a blue dress with small blue bows in her hair. Her head is turned slightly to her right but her gaze is towards her left. The background is a mix of green and yellow with a sponge-like texture. The lighting on her skin and her hair is warm, painted in red and purple tones. The atmosphere is moody and the viewer may ask: What are you doing out of bed? What do you see just out of frame?
Artist Bio: Calixte Henri was born in Port-au-Prince in 1933. He began to paint at the Centre d'Art in 1955. Soon after, he abandoned paint brushes in favor of razor blades and palette knives which lent a certain finesse and transparency to his paintings favoring a refined line. He obtains volume through harmonious contrasts of elegant color tones.
Henri received a Guggenheim Foundation fellowship in the 1980's. His works have been widely exhibited in France and in Switzerland as well as in Haiti and the US, and Henri has an international reputation among galleries and collectors. Henri died in 2010.
