Hector Hyppolite (1894-1948) 28"x24" Herzulie Freda Dahonmin c1946 Oil on Board #2802GN-H

Simply stunning! This original, naive masterpiece is signed by the late famous master painter and the patriarch of Haitian art, Hector Hyppolite, from St Marc, Haiti. This picture of Erzulie surrounded by her siblings in a garden is considered one of the top 5th paintings ever painted by the late famous Hector Hyppolite. It is an oil on board and painted circa 1946.

This masterpiece Herzulie Freda Dahonmin – Erzulie and Her Sisters is in seven (7) publications.

1- Mystical Imagination The Art of Haitian Master Hector Hyppolite, Haitian Art Society, 2012- pp.148
2-Kafou, Haiti Art and Vodou, Nottingham Contemporary, 2012-2013. pp 65
3- Saving Haiti’s Heritage: Cultural Recovery After the Earthquake Richard Kurin, Smithsonian Institute, 2011. Pp.65
4- Sacred Arts of Haitian Vodou by Donald J. Cosentino Editor, Pp 201 G8
5- Deux Siecles de Creation Artistique, Grand Palais Galerie Nationales 19 Nov 2014- 15 Fev 2015, Pp. 125

6- Hector Hyppolite, Editions Capri, 2011, pp. 46, and UCL Catalogues.

7-Hector Hyppolite Création Plastique & Autofiction by Carlo A. Célius, CIDHICA, France, 2023, pp 222, Figure 108.

Erzulie Freda is one of the original spirits brought from Africa during colonial times. She's an incredibly magical and beautiful lwa, whose full name is "Metres Mambo Ezili Freda Daome." Dahomey is an ancient kingdom of Western Africa that contributed to Vodou's development in the French colony of St. Domingue, today is known as Haiti. Erzulie rules over romantic love, luxury, gambling luck, abundance, refinement, and much more. She is associated with coolness, freshness, and cleanliness.

Erzulie Freda is one of the original spirits brought from Africa during colonial times. She's an incredibly magical and beautiful lwa, whose full name is "Metres Mambo Ezili Freda Daome." Dahomey is an ancient kingdom of Western Africa that contributed to Vodou's development in the French colony of St. Domingue, today is known as Haiti. Erzulie rules over romantic love, luxury, gambling luck, abundance, refinement, and much more. She is associated with coolness, freshness, and cleanliness.

At his death in 1948, Hyppolite was recognized as Haiti’s foremost painter. By 1946, André Breton and Wilfredo Lam purchased his work and hailed him as a master of naïve art. 

UNESCO’s 1947 exhibition in Paris gave Hyppolite a worldwide reputation. Born into a family of voodoo priests, Hyppolite did not start to paint until late. Hyppolite traveled to New York, Cuba, Dahomey, and Ethiopia during World War I before returning to St. Marc in 1920. 

Although by trade a shoemaker, house painter, and sometimes voodoo priest, Hyppolite painted postcards for American marines visiting Haiti. His painted architectural decorations in St. Mark brought him to the attention of DeWitt Peters, founder and Director of the Centre D’Art. With DeWitt’s encouragement, Hyppolite moved to Port-au-Prince and devoted himself to painting. 

Using chicken feathers, his fingers, and brushes, Hyppolite produced a body of work of remarkable richness and complexity. His works are collected and exhibited in major museums throughout the world. 

In 2008, the Government of Haiti issued a decree establishing June 2008- June 2009 as the year of Hector Hyppolite as a testimony to his impact on the art world. 

The Musée du Louvre in Paris held an exhibit from November 5th, 2011, through February 6th, 2012. It published an accompanying book on the life and art of Hector Hyppolite, one of Haiti’s greatest artists, the patriarch of Haitian art. The proceeds from the sale of the book will be used to fund the restoration of the collection of the Musée d’Art Haitien du College St. Pierre in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. 

A legend in his country, Hyppolite is known for his aesthetically complex yet highly intuitive paintings. He died in 1948, at the peak of his fame, leaving a legacy that has inspired a whole school of Haitian painting.

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