Préfète Duffaut Haitian , 1923-2012

Préfète Duffaut was a Haitian artist from Jacmel known for his surrealist and symbolic paintings. He was born in 1923 in Jacmel, on the south coast of Haiti, and raised by an unkind stepmother. Duffaut withdrew, finding solace in the ideal world of his imagination. His sketches and paintings helped him to overcome periods of despair. By age twelve, he worked as a shipwright like his father. He later gained recognition after painting religious murals, inspired by a vision of the Virgin Mary. His work, often depicting geometric designs, mountainous dreamscapes, and the Virgin Mary-Erzulie, blended Catholicism and voodoo themes.

In 1948, he joined the Centre d’Art and was selected to paint murals for Holy Trinity Cathedral in 1950. His meticulous and inspired style established him as a key figure in Haitian and international surrealist art.