Emilcar Similien (SIMIL) Paintings

Feu de Joie 1970 hand signed and dated. Measurements: 25.75 X 25.75 Framed. Image is 23.75 X 23.75 Emilcar Similien, known as Simil was born in 1944 in St. Marc. He finished elementary school in St. Marc and high school in Port-au-Prince. From 1965 until 1971 he studied at the Academy of Beaux-Arts in Port-au-Prince, where he took courses in painting, sculpture, and art history. Simil uses his images of women only as means for displaying patterns, color, and the sparkle of gold jewelry on black skin. He paints with acrylics on Masonite of any size. His surfaces are smooth and polished. Simil delights in beauty, elegance, and grace. This is done in a silhouette style reminiscent of Kara Walker. Emilcar Simil (Similcar) is known for Acrylic painting in high colors of black skinned female figures. He is of the generation of Haitian artists that include Bernard Sejourne, Prospere Pierre-Louis, Levoy Exil, Louisiane Saint Fleurant, Henri Calixte, Paul Dieuseul, Laurent Casimir, Frantz Zephirin, Denis Smith, Philton Latortue, Philome Obin, Préfète Duffaut, Fernand Pierre, Dieudonne L Cedor. Since 1971 he has taught art history and aesthetics at the Academy of Beaux-Arts. He is also an honorary teacher at the private school Juan Vasquez. In 1974, he traveled to the United States to meet American artists and visit major museums. Simil was influenced by Art nouveau and his favorite artist, Gustav Klimt. These influences are most obvious in his paintings of women. Like Bernard Sejourne, Simil delights in beauty, elegance, and grace. But instead of concentrating on pose, he uses his images of women only as vehicles for displaying pattern, color, and the sparkle of gold jewelry on black skin. Only recognizable as females by their contours, their features are not distinguished. There is a playfulness of line that is very different from Sejourne's emphasis on monumentality. Emilcar Similien uses his images of women only as means for displaying patterns, color, and the sparkle of gold jewelry on black skin. He paints with acrylics on Masonite of any size. His surfaces are smooth and polished. Simil delights in beauty, elegance, and grace. He has been exhibiting since 1969 namely in Haiti, USA, Denmark. As Art Critic, Gerald Alexis states in his book Peintres Haitiens "well trained by masters who taught him to excel in his forms, Similien’s works also contain discrete messages” . EXHIBITIONS 1969- Academie des Beaux Arts 1970- Haitian-American Institute 1971- Salon Dante Alighieri, Amb. d'Italie, Port-au-Prince 1972- Christ, Saut-d'Eau 1973- Anderson and Hopkins Gallery, Washington, D.C. 1974- Galerie Mehu, Petion-Ville 1974- Musee d'Art Haitien, Port-au-Prince 1976- Galerie Monnin, One Man Show, Port-au-Prince 1977- Martello Museum, Key West, Florida 1978- Galleriet, Copenhagen, Denmark 1978-1979 - Haitian Art - Brooklyn Museum, New York, Milwaukee Art Center, Wisconsin, Kunst aus Haiti, Berlin, Germany, New Orleans Museum of Art, Louisiana 1978- Brooklyn College, New York 1978- Musee d'Art Haitien, Port-au-Prince 1979 - Haiti, Musee d'Art (Third Generation Artists) 1979- Kunst aus Haiti, West Berlin, Germany 1980- Curacao Museum, Willemstad, Curacao 1981- Sotheby Parke Bernet Auction, New York, NY 1982- Galerie Monnin Third Generation Artists 1982- Exhibit Vorpal Gallery, San Francisco 1982- Centre de Arte Cultural, Italy 1982- International Art Expo, New York, NY 1983- Musee International d'Art Naif, Nice, France 1983- Galerie Bukowskis, Zurich, Switzerland 1984- Exhibit Metropolitan Museum of Art 1985- Galerie Bukowskis, Zurich, Switzerland 1985- Cafe de la Paix Exposition, Paris, France 1986- Three Man Show, Port-au-Prince 1988- Galerie 93, Paris, France 1989- IFA Galerie und Kontaktstelle, Bonn, Germany 1990- Exposition du Palais du Rhin, Strasbourg, France 1992- La Rencontre Des Deux Mondes Vue Par Les Peintres D'Haiti - Martinique, Seville, Rome, Paris, Nantes, Angouleme, Laval, Toulouse, Japan, Montreal, United States, Mexico Haitian art is a complex tradition, reflecting African roots with strong Indigenous, American and European aesthetic and religious influences. Many artists cluster in "schools" of painting, such as the Cap-Haïtien school, which features depictions of daily life in the city, the Jacmel School, which reflects the steep mountains and bays of that coastal town, or the Saint-Soleil School. Centre d’Art, located in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, was founded in 1944 by American watercolorist DeWitt Peters and several prominent Haitians from the intellectual and cultural circles including: Maurice Borno, Andrée Malebranche, Albert Mangonès, Lucien Price, and Georges Remponeau. Popular artists of this movement include: André Pierre, Hector Hippolyte, Castera Bazile...