Vodoun Ceremony with Folkloric Manifestations, dated 1952. Masonite, 30 x 24 inches

Castera Bazile, born in 1923 in Jacmel, was a domestic employee of Dewitt Peters while the Centre d'Art was being organized. He became a painter himself in 1945. In 1955 he won First Grand Prize in the Caribbean International Art Competition organized by ALCOA, and in 1957 he won $1000 First Prize in the International Exhibition sponsored by "Holiday" magazine. He executed three murals in the Episcopal Cathedral of Sainte Trinite in Port-au-Prince, "The Ascension of Christ," "The Baptism of Christ," and "Christ Expelling the Money Changers from the Temple." His estimable career was cut short when he contracted tuberculosis at the age of 39 in 1962. He died in 1965. His work is included in the permanent collections of the Musee d'Art Haitien du College Saint Pierre in Port-au-Prince, the Davenport Museum of Art in Iowa, the Milwaukee Museum of Art, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

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