Edouard Wah: Eclectic by excellence

"Il faut être formé avant de se deformer" - Edouard Wah

Note: This piece was written about a month before we learned of the passing of Edouard on September 27, 2003. We had a chance to meet him in New York during the summer of 2003. This constitutes one of the last interviews he ever gave. You will be sorely missed, dear friend
(DiscoverHaiti - October 2003)

View a sample of the art of Edouard

Edouard Wah: in brief

Born: 1938, Port-au-Prince   Resides: Austin, Texas Education:College St. Martial, Lycee Firmin, Foyer des Arts Plastiques, various locations in Philadelphia and Austin. Other: family of painters that includes: Illustrious brother Bernard (August 8 1939-August 22 1981) as well as Edgar, Marcel and Marcel Jr. co-founder of artistic center Kalfou in early 60s. Favorite media: Acrylic on canvas. Enjoys dancing and teaches in his spare time

A chance visit to a private painting exhibit was the setting for meeting Edouard Wah, a prominent artist whose career spans at least 4 decades. We had to opportunity to admire a sample of his work and to talk to the artist about his work, his vision, and whatever else he felt like. A sample of his works can be seen here.

Edouard Wah was born in Port-au-Prince in 1938. He owes the unusual spelling of his last name to a chinese father. At a very young age, he discovered a liking to drawing and design. He received training in anatomy, drafting, perspective and design in Grade and High School under the tutelage of some of the best teachers available like Master Bance and Father Adrien. By his teenage years, he had picked up painting with acrylic on masonite.

In 1952, Edouard and his younger brother Bernard joined the Art School "Foyer des Arts Plastiques". There, they received training under some masters of the time. The group includes Luckner Lazard, Petion Savain, Dieudonne Cedor and Nehemy Jean. In 1958, he joined Gallerie Canape Vert. His first important exhibit came slightly after that. He has not looked back since. Over the next decade, Edouard will establish himself as a major artist on the painting scene. In 1963, with Bernard and a few friends, the Kalfou movement would take birth. Later that year, Edouard also received a commission by the haitian government for a number of murals in Downtown Port-au-Prince. In 1971, he would come to the United States in order to further his studies in Art.

It came as no surprise that Edouard names formal training as a key ingredient in the make-up of a successful artist. "il faut être formé avant de se deformer". "In other words, one needs a good foundation in the basic principles of art before successfully being able to take a personal departure in style and approach. To be complete an artist needs to have a grasp of shapes, forms, lighting techniques, colors, perspective etc. To be surrealist or impressionist you probably should start by being a decent realist first," he said. "I know a couple of artist friends of mine who are otherwise successful in their own style but who would come to me if someone commissions a portrait from them". "I think a painter has to be able to do a portrait if needs be".

Rather than being an obstacle to new ideas, a classic upbringing has allowed him to integrate elements from various influences and various schools of thought. And for Edouard there were many influences. The classic, the Primitive Art movement as well as various reactions to Intuitive Art such as Haitian Modernism. His brother Bernard also turned out to be an influence. "Bernard actually encouraged me to develop a trademark of sorts".

If there is an obvious trademark in Edouard Wah's work it has to be his use of a cerulean blue to outline or almost etch some of his subjects into the canvas. This use of the blue line serves as a unifying trait almost within Edouard Wah's varied palette of styles and themes. With fluid lines and ethereal bodies he depicts emotions on a human scale (peace, hope etc.) or of a personal degree (regret, love, jealousy etc.). With sharp and bold strokes and a frank realism he brings us back to scenes of everyday haitian life, the vibrant, bustling market scenes, the street vendors we completely forgot about. With the same honesty, he gives us still life and portraits, straw hats, chairs, and local fruits, and simple faces and postures again not with exuberance but with the simplicity typical of haitian life. " I go back to Haiti at least once a year, and this allows me refresh and replenish myself. More than one are looking for just such means to replenish or at least reminisce and they find that in my market scenes and my still lifes."

This variety is not incidental and for Edouard Wah, it is very much a reflection of an evolution in customer taste and critics attitude towards in Haitian Art. This contemporary evolution according to Wah has been allowing multiple currents, multiple schools and artists with varied approaches like modern primitive, surrealists, hyper-realists to finally happily co-exist and find success and critical appreciation at the same time within the realm of Haitian Art. Such variety within his work is in no small measure a reaction to the still inherent disparity of tastes within the customer audience. "I am professional painter. A professional has to be able to live off of painting". So doing entails being able to provide works that are able to please a variety of potential customers from collectors to casual art lovers, encompassing wide ranges of individuals with varied degrees of sophistication, diverse art background, differing tastes, variable interest and not least unpredictable budgets available to spend on artwork.

All things considered, Edouard Wah's rich palette, bold blue strokes, will appeal to a lot of audiences and it is a great credit to his inventiveness, his willingness to adapt while staying within himself, his keen business sense and his great talent.

View a sample of Edouard Wah's paintings.

More information:

Edouard Wah's website: www.edwahcalfouartstudio.com

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