Raphael Denis (Haitian, 1934-2012)

Raphael J. Denis was born on June 5th, 1934, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and died in 2012. He was a dedicated bookbinder, painter, master of carpentry, and family man. Raphael began painting at the Hall of Plastic Arts in 1956, then joined the Brochette Gallery and the Diacoute Association in 1958. After exhibiting in Haiti, Canada, and the United States, he settled in New York, where he died peacefully of natural causes shortly after his 78th birthday on July 7th, 2012.  Raphael Denis’ subjects are drawn from Haitian reality, and, as Michel-Philippe Lerebours says of him, “they are emptied, decanted, taken as a simple pretext for purely aesthetic exploration. Despite the rigorousness and subtlety of his style, Raphael Denis’ work overflows with emotion. The vivacity of the colors cannot hide the anguish and desperation that fill the atmosphere, at times making it almost suffocating.” His artwork is part of public and private collections internationally and rare to find in the art market.