Galland Semerand (4 September 1953 – 29 November 2019) was a Haitian painter and architect. Semerand created an atmosphere of pomp and grandeur, expressed in his painting of Citadelle Laferrière and Sans-Souci Palace.

Biography

Born on 4 September 1953 in Cap-Haïtien, Semerand grew up in

Port-au-Prince Port-au-Prince ( , ; ht, Pòtoprens ) is the capital and most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 987,311 in 2015 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The metropolitan area is define ...

. He spent a year at the Académie des Beaux-Arts in France, but was largely self-taught. He was very attracted to the "

Gingerbread Gingerbread refers to a broad category of baked goods, typically flavored with ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon and sweetened with honey, sugar, or molasses. Gingerbread foods vary, ranging from a moist loaf cake to forms nearly as crisp as ...

" house movement that was prevalent in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. However, he created and sold most of his artwork from home. In 1984, Semerand's talent was discovered during Pope John Paul II's visit to Haiti. The following year, he had a major exhibition in Paris. He won a prize in 1992 with a painting titled "La découverte d'Haïti par Christophe Colomb", which was published in the German magazine

Stern The stern is the back or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite the bow, the foremost part of a ship. Ori ...

. In the early 1990s Semerand presented numerous exhibitions in Haiti and Florida. In 1997, he won a prize in art from the communications company TELECO, Inc. Semerand's artwork would be printed on Haitian stamps. Many of these works are now in exhibition at Expressions Art Gallery. The

2010 Haiti Earthquake A disaster, catastrophic Moment magnitude scale, magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake struck Haiti at 16:53 local time (21:53 UTC) on Tuesday, 12 January 2010. The epicenter was near the town of Léogâne, Ouest (department), Ouest department, a ...

caused much inspiration for Semerand and he published many triptych-style works. Some of Semerand's paintings bear a resemblance to

Jean-Antoine Watteau Jean-Antoine Watteau (, , ; baptised October 10, 1684died July 18, 1721) Alsavailablevia Oxford Art Online (subscription needed). was a French painter and draughtsman whose brief career spurred the revival of interest in colour and movement, as ...

's works and Dutch Golden Age painting.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Semerand, Galland 1953 births Haitian architects Haitian male painters Haitian painters