Max Pinchinat (Haitian, 1925-1985)

Max Pinchinat was a Haitian painter, critic, and cultural figure born in Port-au-Prince on June 24, 1925. After a brief military career reaching the rank of sub-lieutenant, he joined the Centre d'Art in 1947 and won a gold medal at the 1949 International Exhibition in Port-au-Prince. A leading voice in Haitian art criticism, Pinchinat wrote for Le Nouvelliste and Notre-Temps and co-founded the Foyer des Arts Plastiques in 1950, serving as its first president. In 1951, he relocated to Paris on a French government scholarship, eventually settling there permanently. Pinchinat exhibited across Haiti, France, the U.S., Mexico, and Germany between 1949 and 1961. Critic Gérald Alexis credits him with blending modern sensibility with Haitian popular art traditions, cementing his place in the history of modern Haitian painting. He died in November 1985. Explore his available works below.