Sully Obin (Cap-Haitian, 1946-2012)

Sully Obin was born in 1946 in Cap-Haïtien, the birthplace of Haiti's Northern School of painting and the ancestral home of one of the country's most celebrated artistic dynasties. He is the grandson of Philomé Obin, the founding master whose work established Cap-Haïtien as a center of Haitian art alongside the movement's roots in Port-au-Prince. Sully completed his elementary schooling at Collège Notre-Dame du Cap, then left secondary school to apprentice as a shoemaker, a trade far removed from the canvas. It was his grandfather Philomé who saw something else in him and urged him to take up painting instead. That encouragement drew Sully into the Obin family's artistic tradition, one that has shaped Haitian art across multiple generations and continues to influence collectors and historians of the Northern School today. He passed away in 2012. Explore his available works below.