Artists of Trinidad and Tobago

[truetrini]

Great artistic talent.
Hugh Stollmeyer.
http://artsocietytt.org/stollmeyerH.htm


From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hugh Stollmeyer (1912–1982) was an artist from Trinidad.

Early life and the Trinidad Independents

Hugh Stollmeyer was born in Trinidad, the southernmost island in the Caribbean, on January 13, 1912. The influence of his idyllic early years in this lush tropical paradise is apparent in his art, both in his use of vibrant colors and in his portrayal of island people. Hugh was an artistic child; always painting, reading, drawing and writing poetry and plays. When he finished school he joined the "Trinidad Independent", a group of creative thinkers who questioned the social and artistic "norm" of the day and whose interests included: the abolishment of class divisions, capitalism, racism, religious extremism and prejudice against homosexuality. A consciousness of Trinidad's cultural heritage was visible for the first time in the artwork of Hugh and the Trinidad Independents; the influences of Amerindian iconography and the symbols of African Obeah are two such examples. Hugh exhibited his work with others from the Independents in Trinidad and abroad.

''The Beacon''

Collectively, the Independents published a magazine called The Beacon as a means to manifest their collective desire to make the nation of Trinidad a vital intellectual center where new ideas could be tested and new avenues of racial and political justice could be discussed in the Caribbean The magazine included articles on politics, sociology and philosophy, as well as reviews of book and art exhibitions, original poetry and short stories. Hugh wrote articles on art, art restoration and reviews of art exhibitions, as well as poetry.

Artistic maturity
 
Hugh left Trinidad for New York in the summer of 1930 and lived with his older brothers who were already working and studying there.[4] Hugh apprenticed at a photographic advertising company, and attended classes at the Art Students league. He continued his correspondence with the Trinidad Independents and wrote for the Beacon. In 1933 he moved back to Trinidad. Hugh continued exhibiting his work locally and abroad and was active in the Trinidad art scene. By 1938, Hugh was increasingly uncomfortable within the confines of Trinidad society, and he returned to New York. The work from the late 1930s, particularly after his return to New York, marks the beginning of his artistic maturity. His work captures the character and mixed ethnicity of the Trinidad people as well as the vibrant color and the lush and varied forms of topical foliage.
 
He was very active in the Greenwich Village creative community and spent much time frequenting the galleries, critiquing and learning from others‚ art. While his subject matter and palette continued to reflect both Trinidad's culture, people and tropical foliage as well as the influence of artists such as Botticelli, Gauguin, Van Gogh, and Picasso, his style increasingly reflected his knowledge and understanding of avant garde painting in New York at that time.
 
[edit] Expanded description
 
In the mid 1950s, Hugh and his friend Arthur Repkin moved to the countryside north of New York City. Hugh planted extensive gardens here and both the flowers and vegetables he grew became the subjects for his painting. He was also vitally interested in abstract painting, but not the action‚ painting of the abstract expressionists for which he had little sympathy. Much of his abstract work is on an intimate scale in gouache and reflects his continuing interest in surrealism as well as in clear and vibrant color, and in the juxtaposition of mass rather than line.
 
By 1959 Hugh's relationship with Repkin was disintegrating and he returned to New York briefly and then to Trinidad where he lived for the major part of each year until 1964. He immediately immersed himself in the artistic life of the island and exhibited frequently. This was a very productive period, marked by his return to painting Trinidad women, in all their diversity, surrounded by the lush vibrant color of tropical flowers and foliage. There is a new, almost ecstatic freedom in the design of these works which conveys his love for tropical people and tropical plants.
 
Hugh's productivity and involvement in the art scene was counterbalanced by bouts of depression which he had suffered from throughout his life. At this time the depression was accompanied by increasingly heavy drinking and this began to take its toll. After he returned to New York in 1964, he found it increasingly difficult to paint and stopped painting seriously in 1965.
 
In 1966 he was asked to design the curtain for the stage at the Trinidad and Tobago Pavilion at Expo '67 in Montreal. He was both gratified and perplexed to be asked. He was an enthusiastic supporter of Trinidad independence (in 1961), but was also quite aware of his status as an "old colonial". This may have been his last work.
 
In 1967 he went to work at the Elmhurst Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, in the physiotherapy department. He viewed his work there as a kind of performance, healing through love and laughter as well as physiotherapy. He found the constant contact with people invigorating after the solitary pursuit of painting.
 
In 1971 he left the hospital, hoping to return to painting but found that he could not. His previous work, however, was taken up by the Ligoa Duncan Gallery in Uptown Manhattan and he had exhibitions there and at their gallery in Paris.
 
In 1976 he returned to Trinidad at his family's insistence and was treated for alcoholism. In 1977 Hugh returned to New York where he died on June 15, 1982.
 
Hugh Stollmeyer was one of Trinidad's great painters. His work was very influential towards the Caribbean art movement. Many of his paintings have been published by Fine Island Arts Inc., a publishing, marketing and distribution company established by a relative in 2006.
 
[edit] References
 
1.^ Lingwood, Rex (Right of Attorney, Hugh Stollmeyer Estate)
 2.^ Art History
 3.^ Rosengarten, Frank. Urbane Revolutionary: C. L. R. James and the Struggle for a New Society.
 4.^ Black, Jan Knippers. Area Handbook for Trinidad and Tobago

[truetrini]

From a villian on James Bond, to Mr. Uncola...master craftsman!
Geoffrey Holder



http://www.search.co.tt/trinidad/holder/bio.html

Born: August 20, 1930

Occupation: dancer, choreographer, painter

Born in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, Geoffrey Holder was one of four children in a middle-class family. He attended Queens Royal College, a secondary school in Port-of-Spain, and received lessons in painting and dancing from his older brother Boscoe.

When Holder was seven, he debuted with his brother's dance troupe, the Holder Dance Company. When Boscoe moved to London a decade later, Geoffrey Holder took over direction of the company. In 1952, Agnes de Mille saw the group perform on the island of St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, and invited Holder to audition for impresario Sol Hurok in New York City. Already an accomplished painter, Holder sold 20 of his paintings to pay for passage for the company to New York City in 1954. When Hurok decided not to sponsor a tour for the company, Holder taught classes at the Katherine Dunham School to support himself. His impressive height (6'6") and formal attire at a dance recital attracted the attention of producer Arnold Saint Subber who arranged for him to play Samedi, a Haitian conjurer, in Harold Arlen's 1954 Broadway musical "House of Flowers". During the run, Holder met fellow dancer Carmen DeLavallade, and the two married in 1955. During 1955 and 1956 Holder was a principal dancer with the Metropolitan Opera Ballet in New York. He also appeared with his troupe, Geoffrey Holder and Company, through 1960. The multi-talented Holder continued to paint throughout this time, and in 1957 he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in painting.

In 1957 Holder acted in an all-black production of "Waiting for Godot" . Although the show was short-lived, Holder continued to act, and in 1961 he had his first film role in the movie ALL NIGHT LONG, a modern retelling of "Othello". His career as a character actor flourished with appearances in EVERYTHING YOU'VE ALWAYS WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT SEX (1972), LIVE AND LET DIE (1973), and as Punjab in ANNIE (1982).

Holder has also been an active director. His direction of the Broadway musical "The Wiz," (1975) an all-black retelling of THE WIZARD OF OZ, earned him Tony Awards for best director and best costume design. In 1978 he directed and choreographed the lavish Broadway musical "Timbuktu!" . He has choreographed pieces for many companies including the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, for which he choreographed "Prodigal Prince" (1967), a dance based on the life of a Haitian primitive painter. Dance Theater of Harlem has in its repertory Holder's 1957 piece "Bele," which like most of his work combines African and European elements.


Holder and his wife Carmen

Holder cowrote (with Tom Harshman) and illustrated the book BLACK GODS, GREEN ISLANDS (1959), a collection of Caribbean folklore; and GEOFFREY HOLDER'S CARIBBEAN COOKBOOK was published in 1973. He also gained widespread recognition in the late 1970s and 1980s for his lively commercials. In 1992 Holder appeared in the film BOOMERANG with Eddie Murphy. He resides in New York, where he continues to paint, choreograph, and act.

-- Zita Allen Search for Books
about Geoffrey Holder
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tAiEFhNHZk 

Other Accomplishments:
 
In 1957 he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in painting.
 
In 1957 Holder acted in an all-black production of "Waiting for Godot" .
In 1961 he had his first film role in the movie ALL NIGHT LONG, a modern retelling of "Othello".
Appearances in "EVERYTHING YOU'VE ALWAYS WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT SEX" (1972),
LIVE AND LET DIE (1973),
Punjab in ANNIE (1982).
 
Directed "The Wiz," (1975) an all-black retelling of THE WIZARD OF OZ, earned him Tony Awards for best director and best costume design.
In 1978 he directed and choreographed the lavish Broadway musical "Timbuktu!".
He has choreographed pieces for many companies including the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, for which he choreographed "Prodigal Prince" (1967), a dance based on the life of a Haitian primitive painter.
Dance Theater of Harlem (1957) "Bele," which combines African and European elements.
 
Holder cowrote (with Tom Harshman) and illustrated the book BLACK GODS, GREEN ISLANDS (1959), a collection of Caribbean folklore; and GEOFFREY HOLDER'S
 
CARIBBEAN COOKBOOK was published in 1973.
In 1992 Holder appeared in the film BOOMERANG with Eddie Murphy.

[truetrini]

Talent for so!
Boscoe Holder

Boscoe Holder


From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Boscoe Holder (16 July 1921 - 21 April 2007), born Arthur Aldwyn Holder in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, of partly Barbadian stock, was Trinidad and Tobago's leading contemporary painter, who also had a celebrated international career spanning six decades as a designer and visual artist, dancer, choreographer and musician. He married the dancer Sheila Davis Clarke in 1948, and their son Christian was born the following year. (Christian Holder eventually became a leading dancer with the Joffrey Ballet.)


 
Boscoe Holder started a musical career at a young age, playing the piano professionally for rich French creole, Portuguese and Chinese families. In his teens he began painting seriously. He was an early member of the Trinidad Art Society, along with people such as Ivy Hochoy, Hugh Stollmeyer and Amy Leon Pang.[1] Holder also formed his own dance company, the Holder dance Company. His style carefully preserved Afro-Caribbean tradition. His paintings and dances were inspired by the shango, bongo and bele dances, of the slaves. Boscoe's younger brother, actor Geoffrey Holder - perhaps best known for his role as the villain Baron Samedi in the 1973 James Bond film Live and Let Die - joined Boscoe's dance company at the age of seven.[2]
 
In 1950 Boscoe went to live in London as a dancer and performer appearing at well known theatres. He formed a group by the name of Boscoe Holder and his Caribbean Dancers, who toured all over Europe. The company performed at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, representing the West Indies.[3] Holder and his family were based in London for 20 years. He danced in Nice, Monte Carlo, and Paris with Josephine Baker. He also continued to paint.
 
In the late 1960s he returned to Trinidad and quickly re-established himself as a painter. Since that time his work has been exhibited all over the Caribbean and elsewhere internationally. His paintings can be seen in collections throughout the world, preserving the West Indian culture.
 
In October 2011, and exhibition of 50 of Boscoe Holder's artworks was dedicated at the Upper Room Art Gallery at Top of the Mount, Mt St Benedict, St Augustine, Trinidad, as the Gallery's contribution to the United Nations proclaiming 2011 as the International Year for People of African Descent.[4]
 
[edit] Awards and honours
 
In 1973, in recognition of Boscoe Holder's contribution to the Arts, the government of Trinidad and Tobago awarded himr the Humming Bird Medal (gold) and named a street after him.
 
In 1978 the Venezuelan government presented him with the Francisco De Miranda award.
 
On 31 October 2003, Boscoe Holder was awarded an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters (DLitt) by the University of the West Indies.
 
In December 2004 the government of Trinidad and Tobago issued an official Christmas series of postage stamps featuring six of his paintings.




Boscoe Holder
http://www.campbellsoflondon.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=81:boscoe-holder&catid=35:artists-bio&Itemid=59
(Born 1921, Trinidad)

Boscoe Holder is the consummate Renaissance man. He has led a celebrated artistic life as painter, dancer, costume designer, choreographer, dance instructor at the University of the West Indies, leader of an international dance group for nearly twenty years, orchestra leader, and pianist.


Holder began painting, self-taught, at the age of five, and by his seventh birthday he was already playing the piano. Enamoured of his island’s culture, he researched and learned the local dances and songs of Trinidad, and by the late nineteen-thirties he had formed a group of dancers and was producing shows depicting the music, songs and dances of Trinidad. At the same time he gave several solo art exhibits, and became a founder and life member of the Trinidad Art Society.

When American military bases were installed in Trinidad during the years of the Second World War, Boscoe Holder had his own programme, Piano Ramblings, on the U.S. Armed Forces Radio Station, WVDI. The show aired every Sunday afternoon. His dance company also performed constantly at various Officers’ Clubs and U.S.O.’s, and Holder was commissioned by scores of servicemen to paint their portraits so that they could send them home to their families in America.

In 1946 Holder visited Martinique for the first time, and this inspirational sojourn broadened his vision prompting him to include the dances, songs and costumes of the French West Indies in his shows. In 1947 Holder went for the first time to New York, teaching Caribbean dance at the Katherine Dunham School, and exhibiting paintings at the Eighth Street Galleries.

Holder married Sheila Clarke in 1948 and the couple had a son, Christian, the following year. In 1950 they travelled to London, which became their home for the next twenty years. Holder formed his group, Boscoe Holder and his Caribbean Dancers, in London, and introduced the first steel drums to England on his own television show in 1950, Bal Creole (aired on B.B.C. TV which, in those seminal days, was located at Alexandra Palace). Appearances in several cabarets, theatre clubs, television shows, and films followed. The company performed before Queen Elizabeth II at her coronation in 1953: representing the West Indies, they danced on a barge, part of the Royal Flotilla, on the Thames. The company also toured the Continent, appearing in Finland, Sweden, Belgium, France, Spain, former Czechoslovakia, Italy, Monte Carlo, and also in Egypt.

For four years, beginning in 1959, Boscoe Holder produced, choreographed, and costumed the floorshow in the Candlelight Room at the May Fair Hotel, as well as leading his own band, The Pinkerton Boys, in the same venue. He later became co-owner of a private club, the Hay Hill, in Mayfair.

In 1960/61 he took three months off to return to Trinidad as the recipient of a Refresher Fellowship, a “Scholarship in Reverse”, given by the Trinidad government to Holder and writer V.S. Naipaul to entice them to return to the land of their birth.

Boscoe Holder and his wife appeared for a second time before Queen Elizabeth II at a Command Performance at Windsor Castle in 1955. In 1966 they were among the eighteen persons invited to dine with the Queen and Prince Philip at Claridges, in London, in honour of Her Majesty’s forthcoming visit to Trinidad and Tobago.

As a painter in England Boscoe Holder has exhibited at the Trafford Gallery, the Redfern Gallery, and the Commonwealth Institute in London, and at the Castle Museum, Nottingham. Two of his paintings were bought by the Leicester Galleries for their permanent collection. He also exhibited at the Martell Exhibition of  Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture, held at the Royal Water Colour Society Galleries. In 1981 Sir Ellis Clarke, former President of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago presented Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales, with a Holder painting as a wedding gift from the Republic.

Returning to Trinidad in 1970 Boscoe Holder concentrated mainly on his paintings, although he still appeared in cabaret with his wife. They have been featured in Town and Country magazine (March 1983), and Islands Magazine (April 1985). In recognition of his contribution to the Arts, the Government of Trinidad  and Tobago awarded Holder the Humming Bird Medal (gold) and named a street after him in 1973. In 1978 he was the recipient of Venezuela’s highest decoration, the Order of  Francisco de Miranda. Together with his brother, Geoffrey, he received an award from the International Voluntary Service (IVS) in Washington, D.C. for his contribution to the Arts in the Caribbean, and 22nd May, 1983 was declared Boscoe Holder and Geoffrey Holder day by the mayor of D.C. On 7th April, 1991, Boscoe, his son, Christian, and Geoffrey received, in Philadelphia, the first Drexel University Award for International Excellence. He was awarded, in 1994, the Médaille de la Cité de Paris (bronze) by the former Mayor of Paris, Jacques Chirac, at the 7th Salon of Painters and Sculptors from Overseas.

Through the eighties Holder has exhibited his paintings in Puerto Rico, and in Cannes, in Curaçao, and in Nassau, Bahamas. In 1987 He held a one-man exhibition in Toronto at the Metro Convention Centre, and celebrated his 50th anniversary as a professional painter with his annual exhibition at the Art Creators Gallery in Port-of-Spain.

In 1988 there was a retrospective of his paintings from the late 1930’s to 1988, entitled, Beauty In The Eye Of The B. Holder, hosted by the Venezuelan Embassy in Port-of-Spain. In 1989 Holder exhibited in Greenwich, Connecticut, at the Garden Center, sponsored by the Galerie Bonheur, and in 1991 he was invited by the Alliance Française and the French Cultural Mission in St. Lucia to hold an exhibit of his paintings there. In 1992 and ’93 he exhibited at the Gallery 1,2,3,4, in Port-of-Spain. In 1993 there were also exhibitions in Jamaica and Guyana, plus the publication of a biography and chronology with colour plates, entitled Boscoe Holder, published by Maclean Publishing Ltd.

From the late 1990’s to the present, Mr. Holder has held  annual  exhibitions  at  101 Art


Gallery in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad. He celebrated the millennium by building his own studio and gallery next door to his home.

On 31 October, 2003, The University of the West Indies conferred upon Mr. Holder an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters (DLitt).  Earlier that year Campbells of London included several of Mr. Holder’s paintings in their exhibit of Caribbean painters. In 2004 Mr. Holder exhibited at the Gallery St. James in Barbados. The Government of Trinidad and Tobago issued, in December 2004, an official Christmas series of postage stamps featuring six of Mr. Holder’s paintings.

[truetrini]

Michel-Jean Cazabon


Michel-Jean Cazabon (September 20, 1813 – November 20, 1888) is regarded as the first great Trinidadian painter and is Trinidad's first internationally known artist.

He is also known as the layman painter. He is renowned for his paintings of Trinidad scenery and for his portraits of planters, merchants and their family in the 19th century.

Cazabon's paintings are to be cherished not only for their beauty but also their historical importance: his painting has left us with a clear picture of the many aspects of life in Trinidad through much of the nineteenth century.
 
Cazabon relied on nature to expose the vistas which the plains of the Caroni and the tropical forests at Chagaramas are idyllic in spender. His portraits of the mulattoes, indenture Indians and Negroes where the bases of debate, and whether the painter immortalized these people because he felt a personal bond with them rather less than the European Creoles which no stately portraits were ever recorded.
 
Cazabon, himself, preferred to describe himself as a 'landscape painter', but in Trinidad, away from the metropolitan influences and stimuli, he embraced the everyday, often mundane, forms of artistic expression - teacher, illustrator, portrait painter.
 
In England and France his work was much admired and he won awards and medals at exhibitions. In 1851 and 1857 two books of his engravings of Trinidad landscapes were produced in Paris.

He was the first Trinidad artist whose style influenced artists for many score years after his death. He was an assiduous worker. A few of his paintings and prints are to be found in the National Museum and Art Gallery and in private collections in Trinidad and abroad.


 
Jean Michael Cazabon was born of French parentage, the son of Francis Cazabon, in Trinidad on September 20, 1813 on Corinth Estate, Northern Naparima, on the outskirts of San Fernando. He was the youngest of four children.

His parents, owners of a sugar plantation, were "free colored" immigrants from Martinique, who came to Trinidad following the Cedula of Population of 1783. He was sent to England at the age of nine, to be educated at St. Edmund's College, Ware.
 
In 1826, at the age of thirteen, Cazabon went to school at St. Edmund's College in Ware, England, returning to Trinidad in 1830.

In about 1837 he sailed for Paris to study medicine. He gave up these studies and started off as an art student under Paul Delaroche a leading painter in Paris.

His parent's wealth supported his pursuits and those of his family for many years to come in an enviable life-style and only later in life did he find it necessary to earn a living from his paintings.
 
He followed the familiar pattern for students at that time, travelling extensively in France and Italy painting the landscape. His work was shown at the Salon du Louvre in 1839 and every year from 1843 to 1847.. follow closely that of the contemporary French landscape artists.

In 1843 he married a French woman, Rosalie Trolard. His first daughter was born in Paris in 1844, followed by the birth of his only son.

In 1845 he visited Trinidad, returning to Paris in 1851 to publish a series of eighteen lithographs, "Views of Trinidad, 1851". After the birth of his second daughter in Paris in 1852, he returned with his family to Trinidad.
 


Cazabon soon became popular as a society painter, not only with his paintings of Trinidad scenery, but also with his portraits of the planters and merchants of Port of Spain and their families. He taught art, and provided illustrations of local events for English newspapers.

In Trinidad, Cazabon's most important patron was Lord Harris, the English Governor from 1848 to 1854, recording many of his social functions and excursions.

The Harris Collection of 44 paintings, now displayed at the family home at Belmont in Kent, England, is perhaps the most important collection of nineteenth century visual references of Trinidad. Several other less extensive, but important collections were commissioned by William Burnley, the Scottish-American planter, John Lamont and the Earl of Dundonald.

In 1857 he published a second series of eighteen lithographs of local scenes, "Album of Trinidad". In 1860 he published, with the photographer Hartmann, a series of sixteen lithographs titled "Album of Demerara", and in that same year contributed one of the scenes in "Album Martiniquais", published by Hartmann and the lithographer, Eugene Ciceri.
 


In 1862, Cazabon moved with his family to Saint Pierre in Martinique.

He hoped that Saint Pierre, described then as the Paris of the New World, would offer a metropolitan spirit that Trinidad lacked, and provide a greater appreciation for his art.

Finding much the same attitudes prevailing, he returned to Trinidad about 1870 and attempted to pick up the threads of his former life. Never to regain his social standing, he began to drink to dull his disillusionment.
Hawking his paintings around Port of Spain, he became known only as a drunken, though gentle, old eccentric. In 1888, while working at his easel, he died of a heart attack, and the following day was unceremoniously buried in Lapeyrouse Cemetery.
 
His work was displayed in the Salon de Louvre in Paris in 1839 and 1843-1847.

http://artsocietytt.org/images/Michel%20Jean%20Cazabon/CazabonMJriveratstanns.jpg

[truetrini]

Another REAL talented son of the soil!

Donald " Jackie" Hinkson

http://jackiehinkson.com/bio.html

b. (September 13, 1942 -) Port of Spain, Trinidad

Parents: A. Lennox Hinkson and Jeanette Hinkson (née Bain)
 3rd of six children ­ 4 boys & 2 girls.
 Married 1967 to Caryl Blache-Fraser: 2 sons, 1 daughter and 8 grandsons.

Education
 Richmond Street Boys Primary School;
Queens Royal College, Trinidad
Academie Julien, Paris, France (1963- 64)   
University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada (1965 - 70)

His youth - the early influences
 Jackie grew up in the community of "Cobo Town", Port of Spain, Trinidad, living with his family in a gabled wooden colonial house with the characteristic roof, portico, wooden jalousies and decorative fretwork, so representative of dwellings built at the turn of the 20th century.
Because his father was a Travelling Officer with the colonial government, Hinkson enjoyed extensive exposure to Trinidad's rural and coastal landscape and architecture, including plantation and village architecture.

These early experiences were to have a decisive influence on his later artistic expression.
During his teenage years he struck up a friendship with a fellow schoolmate which was to prove significant.  With Peter Minshall (later to become internationally renowned as a costume designer) Jackie  worked and discussed art extensively.

Through visits to the Public Library he became familiar with the works of European artists, in particular the Impressionists (especially Cézanne) and English watercolourists.

Five young artists

In 1961, with QRC schoolmate, Peter Minshall, Pat Bishop, Alice Greenhall and Arthur Webb, Hinkson was one of the Five Young Artists whose work premiered at the old Woodbrook Market on French Street in Port of Spain, then the headquarters of the Trinidad Art Society.

Through this exhibition another significant artistic link was formed, this time with art critic Derek Walcott, later to be Nobel Laureate for Literature. Walcott's criticisms, encouragement and friendship which began in Hinkson's early teenage years continues to the present.  Their work was featured in October 1998 at the State University of New York at Albany, USA.   

 
 
Click on the thumbnail picture to enlarge. From Left to Richt:  Jackie Hinkson, Alice Greenhall peter Minshall, Arthur Webb; sitting in front: Pat Bishop.

Formal art education

Leaving Trinidad in 1963, along with Minshall, Hinkson embarked on a one year scholarship at the Academie Julien in Paris. There, the Impressionist works he had previously only seen in  books were available in reality.

A year later he proceeded on an art scholarship to Canada (BA Fine Arts) and a Dip. Ed. He admired and was influenced there by Abstract Expressionists, Pop Artists and Minimal  Artists.  He also developed a strong interest in sculpture. Five years later, when the north American influence was beginning to have a decisive effect, Hinkson returned to Trinidad.


"After The Coup" ( 27th July 1990) Mural

Native light and rhythms: 1970 - 1995

He was immediately and forcibly struck by the light and rhythms of his native region. He launched himself into plein-air watercolour painting, exploring the medium almost exclusively for the next two and a half decades - working, travelling and exhibiting throughout the Caribbean from Trinidad to Jamaica. During those decades he also worked  in conte crayons, and produced numerous ink sketches.
It is his work during this period which is generally regarded as "Hinkson" and to which many observers draw parallels to the significance of the early watercolourist who recorded Trinidad's landscape in the 19th Century - Jean-Michel Cazabon.

 A significant body of Hinkson's work in conte crayons was produced during 1982-1985 when he was commissioned by the Government of Trinidad and Tobago to produce One Hundred pieces of work showing the "disappearing architecture" of the country. Some of these works are in the collection of the National Museum and Art Gallery, Port of Spain.
 
From the mid-1990s Hinkson resumed working in oils and his later exhibitions included a number of large canvases.

Simultaneously he worked on figurative wood sculptures in cedar, samaan, mango and a variety of tropical woods - his interest rekindled by the German sculptress Luise Kimme residing in Tobago. An exhibition of these wood sculptures was held in 1999.

Visits to Europe at that time added another dimension to the themes of his watercolours, and he produced several sketches and paintings while in Florence, London, Paris and other cities.
 In recent years Hinkson has been working closely with Barbadian born artist Ian "Sundiata" Stewart. The two share a common interest in plein air watercolour painting and wood sculpture.

 Continuing interest in art studies

Hinkson's interest in other artists work continues with particular interest in the work of watercolourists John Sell Cotman, William Turner and especially Winslow Homer.  Homer's Bahamas watercolours have had a strong influence on Hinkson. Piero della Francesca, Titian, Goya, Chardin, Edward Hopper and Homer are some of the artists whose work he particularly admires, and locally, the late Carlisle Chang, Sybil Atteck, M.P. Alladin, Leo Basso, Isaiah James Boodhoo and Boscoe Holder.

He also has high regard for the works of his contemporaries Edward Bowen, Lisa O'Connor and Sundiata and for the etchings of Wendy Nanan.

1998 Exhibitions - USA and UK

In October, 1998, 30 of the watercolours of Jackie Hinkson and 20 of Derek Walcott's pieces were exhibited at the University of New York, Albany.
In October 1999 Hinkson exhibited 50 different works in mixed media at the Mall Gallery, London.


The artist evolves
Over the past 20 years Hinkson has expanded his repertoire of subjects and his range of media.  In addition to the numerous (more than 75) sketch pads that he has filled with sketches and visual notes on people, places and events, he has also produced a series of 14 large oils in which he has depicted events from the life of Christ in a contemporary Trinidadian context. 

These works exhibited in 2002 and 2003 and have received wide national acclaim. (click here to see images of the mural on the Murals page).

 In 2002 the Unit Trust Corporation sponsored a retrospective of Hinkson's work, curated by Pat Bishop, covering some 40 years. It included exhibitions of drawings and sculpture, watercolours, oils and murals (including the Life of Christ series). 

This retrospective was the impetus for a book conceived by Pat Bishop and published in December 2003 on Hinkson's drawings, "Drawing for Days" ­ 40 years of Drawings by Jackie Hinkson. In April 2006 a book, portfolio and DVD were published (see publication page).

Hinkson continues to draw extensively and to paint plein-air watercolours and oils. He has completed a new series  of figurative wood sculptures and is currently working on a 8 1/2 foot by 100 foot mural entitled "Masquerade" in which certain aspects of Trinidad society are portrayed, at times satirically, through the metaphor of Carnival. 

This work reflects an increasing tendency in Hinkson's expression towards social commentary as further evidenced in his 2009 drawing exhibition at the Softbox Studios

In 2010 Hinkson started a series of oils depicting the contemporary urban landscape.

[truetrini]

Karin Dawn Kelshall

Karin Dawn Kelshall-Armstrong

International Artist

Born 1942

She has displayed at exhibitions worldwide.
Mutual Services Gallery - London, UK 1996, 1997
Commonwealth Institute - Kensington, London, UK 1997, 1998
Ottawa City Hall - Ottawa, ON, Canada 1998
Gloucester City Hall - Gloucester, ON, Canada 1998
Visual Arts Arteast - Orleans, ON, Canada 1998
Buisness & Technology Fair - Hull, Quebec 1999
Trinidad & Tobago High Commission, C.A.B.I.T.T. - Montreal,
Quebec, Canada 1999
Commonwealth Fair - Kensington, London, UK 1995, 1996, 1997
I.S.S. International Fair - Kensington, London, UK 1995, 1996, 1997
Trinidad & Tobago Association - Montreal, Quebec, Canada 1999
Pine View Golf & Country Club - Gloucester ON, Canada 1999
Nepean City Hall, Languages of Life Art Exhibit - ON, Canada
1998, 1999, 2000
Museum of Civilisation - Hull, Quebec, Canada 2000

[truetrini]

Hetty de Gannes

http://www.degannes.com/about.html

Hetty de Gannes was born in Trinidad where she attended The Bishops Anstey High School. She then enrolled in the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology and the Manchester College of Art in the United Kingdom.

Furthering her studies in Art, she returned to the West Indies completing courses in Clay and Metal Sculpture at The University of the West Indies.

She also attended sculpture workshops in the United States of America and Canada and participated in in-shop foundry training in Portland, Oregon and the State of Washington.

Hetty has received various awards throughout her artistic career.

She was presented two consecutive awards for the Best Design in the Buy Local Carnival Jamboree; The Trinidad and Tobago Insurance Limited Mural Design Competition Award; The Trinidad Business and Professional Women's Club Award and the George Bailey Trophy Design Competition Award.

Hetty's stamp design was chosen by the United Nations to commemorate International Women's Year and was printed in two denominations for Trinidad and Tobago.

She has also been invited to participate in the Jamaica Ceramic and Bronze Exhibition and in the China Changchun Sculpture Conference and Symposium in August 2003.

She has hosted solo, joint and mixed exhibitions in Trinidad and Tobago and countries around the world. Some of these include: Canada Expo 67'; Sao Paolo Biennials, Brazil; Commonwealth Exhibition U.K.; Organization of American States, Washington; India International Women's Exhibition; and Carifesta, Caribbean.

She is a deeply spiritual person, and is very grateful to the Almighty for her creative talents, three sons, and a happy marriage of thirty-five years.

She shares love of family and art with her orchids and music of Trinidad, especially the indigenous music of Trinidad, the Steelpan.

Having travelled extensively, the beauty of her native country continues to inspire her. The unspoilt landscape, the Northern mountain range, reminds her of a theatrical scene as it forms a continuous backdrop of ever changing shapes, is, in itself a joy to behold.

The sea waves pounding on the rocks, as is seen in the North Coast area in contrast to the calm and stillness of the rivers which abound are reflective of her emotions (moods). The people, being of diverse ethnicity, produce interesting appearances, which contribute (adds) to the beauty of Trinidad and Tobago. Consequently, various cultural elements have emerged. The country is like to her a kaleidoscope, which is unique, exotic and forever stimulating.
 


Trinidad and Tobago Through The Eye of The Artist – This book celebrates the Thirty-Fifth Anniversary of our Independence by way of an exhibition of art from Trinidad and Tobago. It is at once a showcase of cultural products of our country and, by virtue of the nature of the work displayed, and opportunity for reflection on the nature of the development of our country and our artistic heritage.

Hetty de Gannes also wrote an article which was included in this milestone publication.

Published by the Independence Cultural Committee. © 1997. 196 Pages.

[Bakes]

No mention of how Boscoe had a thing for painting naked man? lol


Good thread doh 

[truetrini]

No mention of how Boscoe had a thing for painting naked man? lol


Good thread doh 

Yuh is trouble.  I nearly post some pics of that in trute..lol

[Socapro]

Great thread!!! 

[Conquering Lion]

Another REAL talented son of the soil!

Donald " Jackie" Hinkson

http://jackiehinkson.com/bio.html

Always liked the Savannah life portrait........still wondering where it gone after new airport was built...