Antonio Joseph

Antonio Joseph was born in Barahona, Dominican Republic in 1921, to Haitian parents. He attended Varones' "La Escuela Graduata" and studied at the Santa Cecelia Music Academy. He also learned how to be a tailor. At the age of seventeen, he left the Dominican Republic with his mother, brother, and sister at the time of the "perejil" massacre in which thousands of Haitians were murdered. Upon arriving in Haiti, he made his living as a tailor. In 1944, at the official opening of the Art Centre, he was the first student and member registered. He studied geometric design and watercolor with DeWitt Peters, who recognized his potential. He studied sculpture with Jason Seley, ceramics with Edith Wegard, and silkscreen with Franck Jacobson. He learned the beginnings of composition and perspective with the French sculptor Pierre Bourdelle, who was in Haiti to oversee the creation of the murals of the Cite de l'Exposition in Port-au-Prince. From 1945 to 1949, Joseph worked with Bourdelle on this large project. In 1952, the artist Paul Keene taught Joseph the technique of casein painting, which combined the virtuosity of oil painting with the possibilities of watercolor. This discovery was instrumental to the artist and produced a series of paintings for which he was awarded a Guggenheim Foundation grant. He won this award twice. Joseph, along with DeWitt Peters, was one of the most important individuals in the advancement of Haitian art. He taught painting, drawing, ceramics, and screen printing at the Art Centre. He was actively involved in bringing an art museum to Haiti, which occurred in 1972 with the creation of the Museum of Haitian Art at Saint-Pierre College. The artist spent his final years between Haiti and the United States. He died in Haiti in 2016. He is considered one of the masters of Haitian art.