Jacques Enguerrand Gourgue
1930 - 1996 (PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI)
JACQUES-ENGUERRAND GOURGUE WAS BORN IN PORT-AU-PRINCE TO A HAITIAN MOTHER AND A FRENCH FATHER WHO WAS WORKING IN HAITI AS A PSYCHIATRIST.
HE JOINED LE CENTRE D’ART IN 1947, AT ONLY SIXTEEN YEARS OLD AND HAVING NO PREVIOUS TRAINING IN PAINTING. WITHIN A YEAR HIS WORK THE MAGIC TABLE WAS EXHIBITED AT THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART, NEW YORK, AND REMAINS IN THEIR PERMANENT COLLECTION. HIS WORK APPEARS TO BE SIGNIFICANTLY INFLUENCED BY THE SURREALISTS AND OFTEN DEPICTED MYSTICAL SCENES IN FORESTS OF DENUDED TREES. GOURGUE LEFT HAITI IN THE 1950S TO MARRY, LIVE, AND WORK IN MADRID, BUT REGULARLY RETURNED TO HAITI DURING THE 1960S FOR INSPIRATION.
HIS WORK IS INCLUDED IN THE PERMANENT COLLECTIONS OF THE MUSÉE D’ART HAITIEN DU COLLÈGE SAINT PIERRE IN PORT-AU-PRINCE, THE DAVENPORT MUSEUM OF ART, IOWA, THE MILWAUKEE MUSEUM OF ART, THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART, NEW YORK, RAMAPO COLLEGE IN MAHWAH, NEW JERSEY, AND THE WATERLOO MUSEUM OF ART IN IOWA.
