HaitiPascal Smarth
Pascal Smarth was born in Haiti in 1966 and was introduced to painting in his early childhood by his father, who painted in his leisure time. He enrolled in the Fine Arts Academy and by 1991 he had become an accomplished professional. In this year he made his hallmark achievement, painting "Le Christ, 1991" in response to Haiti's troubled political reality. His masterpiece allowed Pascal to conquer the Haitian art world and its success affirmed his great potential, encouraging him to explore an undiscovered world of abstract art.
The problem that Smarth was facing in painting his Christ was to get across an uneasy rapport with the world around him. The solution he found was to oppose, within the work itself, a figure, that of Christ, a material body, with its weight and dimensions, and a space created obviously with the influence of Dali or Magritte. Light and colours both help in suggesting the space in which the figure of Christ moves about. Christ is holding on to the cross in an ascending motion and thus going against the force of gravity. Gravity is a well known mechanical force which in the painting is pulling down fragments of those buildings that participate in defining the space. The Christ, on the other hand, is set in motion by a vital force, an energy that is animal and thus organic, spontaneous, and irrational. If Christ is not shown dead or dying, as he is in the traditional iconography, the painting does not exclude his death, but the interaction between the forces in action does offer other possible outcomes.Although Pascal flirted with figurative art, he can be defined as an abstract artist. Drawn to "the power of color and the dynamism of forms," he adopted the style in 1994. "'Le Christ' helped me express my concerns and my feelings towards a specific situation," says Smarth, "but I wanted to say more, and for that I had to find another way. Like in a speech, I had to give another intonation to my words .... As I became more and more passionate about the intonation, the words slowly lost their importance."
All of the work on this website is available to purchase. Please go to the Merchandise page or call directly - 1.613.680.0866 - we will take your order by phone, pay by paypal or we accept debit & all credit cards, and, we ship worldwide.
A percentage of the sale of each painting goes to the YMCA/YWCA emergency fund for Haiti ....
Charitable donation #1190017RR001
Smarth's work appears in Museums and public collections.
Centro cultural Leon Jimenes, Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic
Nader Museum, Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Sogeband, Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Capital Bank, Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Casa de las Americas, Havana, Cuba
International Development Bank, Washington D.C.
ONA, Port-au-Prince, Haiti
International Airport, Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Nudes #2 & #3 are SOLD
