Pierre-Louis Riché (Haitian, b.1954)

Self-taught Haitian painter, Pierre-Louis Riché was born in Cap Haitian on October 19, 1954. He began to paint in his twenties in the atelier of the North's old master, Philome Obin. Riché painted historical subjects for almost twenty years before turning to his presently preferred subject matter, the obese people. He says that it cheers him to see obese people, though he prefers to stay "thin and sexy". He also asserts to have never in his life seen a painting by Botero, whom he is sometimes accused of imitating. Riché's work is very finely executed and richly colored. He paints several canvases at a time, working on small areas before moving on another, allowing him to complete several works. "The grotesque appearance of Riché's subjects is his way of injecting satire into his pictures," as Gérald Alexis depicts his art in his book Peintres Haitiens. Art collectors and galleries in Europe, Latin America, the United States, and Japan appreciate and showcase his works.