Prophete, Ernst (Haitian, b. 1950)

Untitled (Leading Donkey Down Country Road), ca. 1970's Oil on masonite

According to the wonderful interview by Edwidge Danticat in the book, Haiti: 3 Visions, Prophete was born in Terrier Rouge in the north of Haiti on February 17, 1950 but grew up in Cap Haitian, in the neighborhood called " Ciel des Obin," meaning Obin Heaven, the area where Philome Obin and his family lived. Thus he was exposed to many artists and their work in his formative years but did not start to paint himself until he moved to Port-au-Prince in the late 1960's when he joined the Centre D'Art. As of 1994, when the aforementioned Haiti: 3 Visions book was published by Jonathan Demme, who Prophete him greatly, he had still not given up his day job, as a technician at Electricite d'Haiti and has painted only sporadically. At the time he was married and had three sons, so needed the stability of a career other than art. His paintings these days are scarce.