NO. 16 OF 61
Abstrait
Frankétienne (1936–2025)
$1,750
- Medium
- Mixed media
- Size
- 8 × 20 in
- Year
- 1991
- Price
- $1,750
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About the work
A red circle punctuates a long line of coils. Frankétienne’s poured paintings move between abstraction and recognisable figures. He spoke of the spiral as a widening line, part of life’s movement. Here, the narrow canvas lets the eye travel from turn to turn. Each connection offers another way forward, holding our attention in a rhythm that never quite settles.
Deep red, brown and black paint stretches across bright green ground. Thin figures with small round heads rise from the frieze, signed ‘Frankétienne 91’ at the lower right.
About the artist
Frankétienne, born Franck Étienne in Ravine-Sèche on 12 April 1936, was a Haitian writer, poet, playwright, painter and performer. He wrote in both French and Haitian Creole, and with René Philoctète and Jean-Claude Fignolé he founded the literary movement known as Spiralism. His novel Dézafi was the first modern novel written in Haitian Creole. He served as minister of culture in 1988 and founded a school in Port-au-Prince. As a painter he made abstract works, often in blues and reds. In 2010 UNESCO named him an Artist for Peace. He died in Port-au-Prince on 20 February 2025.