Roosevelt Sanon is a

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

an artist who was born in 1951 in

Jacmel Jacmel (; ) is a commune in southern Haiti founded by the Spanish in 1504 and repopulated by the French in 1698. It is the capital of the department of Sud-Est, 24 miles (39 km) southwest of Port-au-Prince across the Tiburon Peninsula, and ...

to Bejamine Jean-Pierre Sanon and Clément Sanon. He began painting at age 17 with no instruction. He later received mentoring from Raphaël Surin and others. His siblings Lamar and Jeannet Sanon are also painters. When he was 23, Sanon was the grand prizewinner in an art competition sponsored by the German

embassy A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a Sovereign state, state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase ...

in Haiti and the ''Musée d’Art Haïtien.'' Afterwards, he traveled to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

to study the work of European artists. From 1979 to 1985, Sanon has exhibited his work in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

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and Haiti between 1979 and 1985. Some of his work is displayed in the Haitian embassy in

Washington, DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

. His better known pieces include: ''A river runs through it'', ''Mapou tree'' and ''The walking tree''.

References

1951 births Living people Haitian painters Haitian male painters Naïve painters {{Haiti-painter-stub