Edouard Duval-Carrié Haitian, b. 1954
Untitled, 2004
Oil on canvas with resin frame
75 x 59 in
190.5 x 149.86 cm
190.5 x 149.86 cm
4-3786
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This work presents a luminous white horse standing centrally within a dense tropical landscape, framed by stylized blue-green foliage and flanking trees, before a glowing golden sky and distant violet...
This work presents a luminous white horse standing centrally within a dense tropical landscape, framed by stylized blue-green foliage and flanking trees, before a glowing golden sky and distant violet hills, with a thin stream of blue water cutting through the lower register — a recurring device in Duval-Carrié's paintings, where water marks the threshold between the spiritual and physical worlds, carrying associations of purification, memory, and the perilous crossings of migration. The pale, luminous horse evokes the artist's ongoing engagement with the lwa, the spirits of Haitian Vodou, who in ritual and belief are understood to "mount" their devotees and travel wherever the Haitian people go; the artist has returned to the mounted or riderless horse throughout his career as a vehicle for spirit and historical memory, most notably in his 2006 painting of Toussaint Louverture on horseback, an image later adapted for Haiti's 2026 Winter Olympic uniforms. Here, the riderless horse, encircled by a halo-like ring of beads or fruit and set against a radiant golden ground, reads less as a specific historical figure than as a vessel awaiting the spirit, while the ornamental orange and gold border, patterned with repeating decorative motifs, recalls the sequined ritual flags (drapo) used to salute the Vodou spirits at the opening of ceremonies — together exemplifying Duval-Carrié's singular synthesis of lush, decorative color, personal myth-making, and the enduring spiritual cosmology of Haiti.
