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Roland Dorcély
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Born 1930 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Died 2017
Roland Dorcély was a major Haitian painter and poet of the 20th century. He was both a ‘master’ and a ‘ghost’ who withdrew from the art world, and from the world itself, at the age of 33. Unlike other artists from the Caribbean, he lived in Europe and the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s, and achieved real success. In 1963, Dorcély retired in Haiti, where he lived a discreet, almost invisible life, until he suddenly and inexplicably left for New York City in 2003. He died there on April 17th, 2017, amidst general indifference. The presentation at 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair London 2022 will be the first solo show of his work in London.
Roland Dorcély, Untitled (The smell of flowers), Circa 1958, Oil on canvas. Courtesy of Galerie Loeve&Co.

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