Tribute to Dr. Michel Philippe Lerebours, Who Has Passed Away

We can benefit from his writings, particularly on art history and his efforts to structure institutions such as the National School of Arts (ENARTS), which replaced the Academy of Fine Arts, the National Pantheon Museum, and the Haitian Institute of African Studies and Research. He left a long list of achievements that cannot be fully appreciated by the general public.

However, Dr. Michel Philippe Lerebours should be remembered through the bust of the famous Haitian painter Hector Hyppolite, erected in 2008 in Port-au-Prince at the corner of Lamartinière Avenue and Alix Roy Street (Place Téléco). Dr. Michel Philippe Lerebours was one of the main proponents of promoting a statue in memory of painter Hector Hyppolite, who could be considered the pioneer of subversive painting.

Indeed, we recall the presence of Vodou in his paintings during the anti-superstition campaign of the 1940s. He had also dared to depict nude female bodies and evoke sexual pleasures during a period of intense piety. Hector Hyppolite, a simple person, a 'Fèy' doctor, who did not pursue extensive studies—even said to be 'illiterate'—was elevated by Dr. Michel Philippe Lerebours.

We must salute the living memory of Dr. Lerebours, embodied in his sense of modesty, which he demonstrated in the idea of dedicating the bust of Hector Hyppolite, who is in the lineage of all those who have painted the Haitian soul through Art.

Tributes to Dr. Lerebours, former Dean of the Haitian Institute of African Studies and Research (UEH).

Hancy Pierre. (HP)