Towards the 20th century
Settlers have long stifled any form of artistic expression in the islands. Consequently, European cultural heritage continued to dominate until the 20th century. Painting was limited to the features of European artists passing through Martinique, such as Gauguin. Rare paintings preserved in the Musée de la Marine in Paris, executed by official painters, offer however a glimpse of the daily life of the time. It was not until 1937 that the high school in Fort-de-France offered drawing and painting classes taught by Paul Bally. During the Second World War, European artists who were stuck on the island because of the blockade opened the first public art workshops. In 1943, the School of Applied Arts gave the impetus to the blossoming of Martinican art. After that came the emergence of the first generation of local artists. The successive movements attest to the vitality of painting in Martinique.
Strongly marked by the political context, the first Martinique pictorial movement is called the Atelier 45. It brought together painters Raymond Honorien (1920-1988), Mystille and Tiquant. At the same time, Aimé Césaire founded the magazine Tropiques.
Groupement des artistes martiniquais (Martinican artists group)
A sculptor is at the head of a decisive movement formed in 1950: Marie-Thérèse Julien Lung-Phu. Born in 1908 in Trois-Îlets, the artist-poetess began studying sculpture in France. After returning to Martinique in 1948, she created a sculpture of Victor Schoelcher, for which she was awarded the Palmes académiques. She remains to this day an honored personality for her impressive career and her attachment to Martinican culture.
Several trends coexisted in the following decades. A symbolist art, and even mystical, represented by Hector Charpentier; a naive painting with vivid tones which depict panoramas and the scenes of fishermen; others combine art and craft by the use of natural materials. Thus Joseph, known as Khoko René Corail, mixes bamboo and paint.
More and more artists are going to train in metropolitan France. When they returned, each one participated in his own way to enrich the identity of the typical art of the island of flowers. This is how the symbolist and surrealist currents appeared. Martinique's art was of course influenced by the Negritude movement, not forgetting the Festival of Black Arts held in 1967.
In 1983, the GEP, or Groupement d'expression plastique, was founded with the aim of promoting Martinican and Caribbean painting and sculpture on the international scene. This momentum continues to grow to the point that there is a real explosion in the field of plastic arts.
Nowadays
Nowadays, exhibitions are held throughout the year, with a peak in May and June. Painting dominates the artistic scene, which leaves room for all styles: figurative, naïve, abstraction, themes related to slavery, but also "figurabstraction", a genre between figurative and abstraction, born under the brush of Hector Charpentier. The Martinique sculpture acquires its letters of nobility only late with Laurent Valère (1959). Hieratic and powerful, his works call for reflection. The most famous is Le Mémorial de l'Anse Caffard, erected in 1998 in the commune of Le Diamant. Fifteen imposing stone statues facing the sea commemorate the tragic shipwreck of 1830, where many chained slaves perished in the waves, with no possibility of escape. In the tradition of large monumental sculptures, the Lambi of Anses-d'Arlet and the head of Manmand'lo exalt the same aesthetic power. The Lambi (2009) is enthroned in the town of Anses-d'Arlet. A sculpture-fountain with elegant lines, its cut conch spreads a refreshing liquid mist. As for Manmand'lo (2004), it is a monumental head of a woman-siren placed ten meters deep in the bay of Saint-Pierre, like the reconciliation of Man and his marine cocoon, fragile and magnificent. Its fame attracts more and more tourists.
The year 2013 saw the opening of the contemporary art space 14°N 61°W in Fort-de-France. The objective of this avant-garde place is to give a platform to local and Caribbean artists to express their art and allow them to be discovered by the general public. The program includes exhibitions and projects that combine artistic creation with social, economic and political concerns. A large part of this foundation dedicated to all forms of creation is devoted to art in the Caribbean. Another important artistic center in Martinique is the Clément Foundation, which regularly honors contemporary Caribbean artists.
Street-art spots
Martinican landscape has become even more beautiful in recent years with the rise of urban art. This form of expression which is directly addressed to the greatest number of people has quickly found its place in Martinique. From Fort-de-France to Schoelcher, we find the themes dear to the West Indies. Four graffiti artists stand out: Oshea, R-Man, Xän and Moksa. We love the brilliant portrait of Spike Lee done by Xän on a wall in the rue du Port. A close-up with a tree instead of his hair! You will find a lot of street-art gems in the adjacent streets.
The most curious will venture to Schoelcher. It will take you about an hour and a half to find the gems that adorn the alleys of this pretty town. Here, sport and urban art are best friends. The municipal swimming pool, a meeting place for evening joggers, has benefited from the municipal project “Art dans la ville”. Thanks to this official support, frescoes are flourishing in this neighborhood. Similarly, at the Case-Navire bridge, the fresco depicting Native Americans marks the location of an ancient Indian village on the banks of the river. Caruge and Cauquil signed a fresco here that is not to be missed. At the municipal stadium, another nicely colored Native American mural awaits you. Here, a child on his boat is paddling on a vast wall. Along the seaside sports trail, the Arawak square and the basketball courts are home to a profusion of graffiti in perpetual renewal. Going back down into town, look for the works hidden everywhere along the beach. Happy children's faces adorn the frieze of the well-named Mur des sourires (Wall of Smiles) in the neighborhood of La Colline. Let's end this panorama on a typically Caribbean note with a work signed by Oshea. On the walls of an electrical transformer, his Doudou holds out his fruit basket to art lovers.
