JUNE FINE ART, JEWELRY, MCM, ANTIQUES & MORE
Lot 154:
Description
Alix Baptiste (Haiti/Savannah) Original Caribbean Folk Art Landscape. Measures 33.5"x24"x1".Weight 2 lbs. Alix Baptiste (b. 1964), one of nine children of a single mother on a small island in Haiti, supported himself by carting and later boating fruits into the city or to nearby islands for sale. He had little schooling. He would go to the fields and pick mangoes and coconuts to sell. Later he took to sailing to sell produce in nearby islands. In early 1984 at the age of 21, Baptiste embarked on a life-changing trip. ?I wanted to be something and make a better of life.? With other poor Haitians (some of whom died of hunger, thirst, and dehydration), he spent fifteen days on the Atlantic. After fifteen days they reached the Turks & Caicos islands. Baptiste then worked for a few years to raise stakes in a shady deal to take three-day passage on a freighter bound for Miami, hiding in the bottom cargo deck of the ship. ?Later, ? he says, ?I got the right papers and became a U. S. citizen, but at first I was an illegal immigrant and had to stay out of sight a lot.? After a bus ride, he surprised his estranged father in Savannah, who took him in.With little employment options as an illegal immigrant, Baptiste began painting as a street artist In Savannah and became very successful. Baptiste?s work has appeared in a number of national magazines, including Black Enterprise, Ebony, and Upscale. He has been invited to participate in Disneyworld?s Millennium. His work is included in the collection of the actor Robert De Niro.
Condition: good
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