Bernard Séjourné (Haitian, 1947-1994)

Born on November 20, 1947, in Port-au-Prince, Bernard Sejourne began studying art formally after graduating high school. Painter and sculptor Sejourne was the best-known artist of the school of art known as the School of Beauty, which honors women. His work depicts beauty, elegance, and grace. His themes mainly were women, flowers, and sometimes landscapes. Séjourné liked to paint on large surfaces of Masonite in acrylic to heighten the effect of movement, which he created by using fluid lines. His colors range from cool to tropical. "Sejourné's mastery of space and volume create near-abstract works of referential elements." (Peintres Haitiens , Gerald Alexis, Editions Cercle d'Art, 2000.) Séjourné exhibited at Calfou and the Esso Salon in Port-au-Prince in 1965; he participated in the Festival of Black Art held in Dakar in 1956, at the Montreal Expo in 1957, and the French Institute of Haiti in 1972. Haitian art collectors have highly valued his work. Since his recent death, he has become one of the highly sought-after collectibles. Baron Philippe de Rothschild commissioned one of his paintings and used it on the label of his 1986 vintage Chateau Mouton-Rothschild Pauillac wine bottle.Baron Phillipe de Rothschild commissioned one of Bernard Séjourné's best works, a trio of masks rising from the dark, to label his 64th legendary vintage Mouton Rothschild 1986.