Haitian Surrealism Children in a Swirling Dance

This early work, "Ronde d'efant" by Haitian artist Wilson Bigaud, could easily be mistaken for a painting by a major European surrealist. The characteristic late-light, long shadows evoke dreamy, subconscious paintings by Dalí or de Chirico. Bigaud's painting was created in 1953, a key moment in European Surrealism. But we are not sure whether Bigaud was trying to piggyback on the work of other, more famous artists or if this highly dramatic scene of a group of young girls in a playful, swirling vortex came from his own creative mind. It most likely did. The painting has been widely exhibited, but as Naive art, despite its otherworldlyness. Signed and dated lower left
21.75'' x 25.5'', 55 x 65 cm (frame). Frame by House of Heydenryk. Provenance: Centre d'Art, Port-au-Prince, Private Collection, New York, Fahimie Marks, Christie's May 19, 1992, Sale 7295, Lot 15, Collection Mark Seidenfeld, New York.
Literature: L. Bortolon, Scopriamo I Naifs di Haiti, Grazia no. 1772 (Feb., 1974), p. 77 (illustrated
Exhibited: New York, New York Cultural Center, American Federation of Arts, Haitian Painting: The Naive Tradition, Nov. 1973 - Aug. 1975, no. 13. This exhibition traveled throughout the United States, Canada and Haiti.
New York, Haitian Art Gallery, Haitian Masters, May, 1966, no. 15 (illustrated)
Sullivan County, Sullivan County College Gallery, Haitian Art Abroad, Aug.-Sept., 1966, n.n.

Bigaud in Select Museum Collections: MoMA, NY (1947, 1951 Accessions, Inter-American Fund); National Gallery of Art, Washington DC (2023 Accession, Kay and Roderick Heller).