Tripping with the Spirits: Haitian Vodou in the Art of Paul Keene

Abstract For a painter as talented and accomplished as he was, it is puzzling that Paul Keene (1920–2009) is not more widely known or highly celebrated, especially among aficionados of Haitian art. This is perhaps due to the fact that Keene was himself not Haitian, though he did live and paint in Haiti for over two years and worked with, befriended, and trained several renowned Haitian masters. The artist also once exhibited with Picasso and Léger in Paris, while in Haiti he collaborated closely with one of Léger’s former students, DeWitt Peters, and taught at the fabled Centre d’Art in Port-au-Prince. Nonetheless, Keene remains largely unrecognized in Haitian studies or Caribbean studies.1 This article explores and contextualizes Keene’s work, beginning with commentary on relevant spiritual contexts and the artist’s remarkable biography, and culminating with a focus on the lwa (Vodou spirits) and drummers in his large oil-on-wood panel triptych Haitian Voodoo Spirits, painted in Haiti in 1953, and their representative symbols (vèvè).