Paysans Sortant et Allant au Marché (Villagers Going to the Market )

Philome Obin (1892-1986) was a Haitian painter known as one of the founders and most important artists of the Haitian Renaissance movement. Villagers Going to the Market from 1953 depicts Haitian villagers going to the market in the vividly colored, narrative manner that distinguishes Obin's best work from the more general painting of his contemporaries. Obin was the oldest and most respected of the Haitian Renaissance painters, and his vividly colored, narrative paintings of Haitian life represent one of the most accomplished traditions in Caribbean art.

Villagers Going to the Market is important in the history of Haitian art because it demonstrates the vividly colored, narrative manner that Obin brought to painting as one of the founders of the Haitian Renaissance. Obin's vividly colored, narrative paintings of Haitian life—combining the vivid colors of Haitian art with the narrative manner that is his most distinctive contribution—represent one of the most accomplished traditions in Caribbean art, and the 1953 painting shows this tradition at its most vivid.

Villagers Going to the Market is Obin's Haitian Renaissance narrative: Haitian villagers rendered in the vividly colored manner of one of the founders of the Haitian Renaissance. The 1953 painting shows the combination of vivid colors with narrative that makes Obin one of the most important artists in Caribbean art.