Franck Louissaint sighed and frowned as he stepped onto his patio and flung aside shower curtains protecting a painting by a former voodoo priest who became a renowned Haitian artist.
The painting from the 1960s once depicted a seemingly joyous voodoo spirit known as a loa, but it warped into something that looked like a three-dimensional satellite image of mountains after it was damaged by rubble and waterlogged when a 2010 earthquake hit the museum where it was displayed.
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Franck Louissaint sighed and frowned as he stepped onto his patio and flung aside shower curtains protecting a painting by a former voodoo priest who became a renowned Haitian artist.
It is one of dozens of well-known paintings that artists are still trying to rescue nearly a decade after the magnitude 7.0 quake killed an estimated 300,000 people or more and struck countless buildings, including the Museum of Haitian Art of St. Pierre College — one of the country's top institutions. More than 600 other watercolors and paintings by prominent artists are still in storage and in danger of decaying as a small group of artists struggles to restore the damaged works.
"We have to reopen to the public," he said. "All the great artists are here."
Fewer than a dozen paintings are currently on display, including one titled "Marriage of Interest" by Rigaud Benoit, who is considered a master of Haitian painting, and "Tower of Babel" by Préfète Duffaut, whose work was collected by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Both men also painted murals inside a cathedral in Port-au-Prince that was flattened by the earthquake.
But the museum still has blank, white walls, with hundreds of works stacked in a narrow storage area exposed to heat, humidity and other dangers. They are taken out only for the occasional cleaning while the more than 30 earthquake-damaged works are being restored.
For now, he and others are relying solely on the restoration efforts of artists such as Erntz Jeudy of nearby Quisqueya University.
It's a feeling familiar for Louissaint, who works up to 10 hours at a time to restore Brice's painting. He said it makes him proud to have permission to touch such artwork.
In this July 4, 2019 photo, Clautaire Leveille walks inside the earthquake damaged Musée d'Art du Collège Saint Pierre, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The 2010 quake also devastated other museums and galleries across Haiti, with $30 million in losses reported at the Musée Galerie d'Art Nader, which had had one of the world's most extensive collections of Haitian art. (AP PhotoDieu Nalio Chery)
In this July 1, 2019 photo, Haitian artist Franck Louissaint works on the renovation of an earthquake damaged painting by Haitian artist Robert Saint Bruce, at the Musée d'Art du Collège Saint Pierre, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The 2010 quake also devastated other museums and galleries across Haiti, with $30 million in losses reported at the Musée Galerie d'Art Nader, which had had one of the world's most extensive collections of Haitian art. (AP PhotoDieu Nalio Chery)
This May 29, 2019 photo, shows a detail of the earthquake damaged painting by Haitian artist Robert Saint Bruce, that is being renovated by artist Franck Louissaint at the Musée d'Art du Collège Saint Pierre, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The Smithsonian Institution has helped the museum restore some paintings. (AP PhotoDieu Nalio Chery)
In this May 29, 2019 photo, photos of paintings damaged by the 2010 earthquake and needing restoration are displayed as a guide for renovators at the Musée d'Art du Collège Saint Pierre, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. While life has begun anew for much of Haiti after the quake, the museum has been shuttered for nine years. ( AP PhotoDieu Nalio Chery)
In this July 4, 2019 photo, Berthony Vilbrun points at a painting that was damaged during the earthquake 2010, at the Musée d'Art du Collège Saint Pierre, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The museum has only recently opened a tiny room to display a handful of paintings. (AP PhotoDieu Nalio Chery)
"It's like the skin of a crocodile!" exclaimed Louissaint, an artist who expects seven more months of work to fully restore the painting by Robert Saint-Brice.
In this July 4, 2019 photo, paintings sit in storage at the Musée d'Art du Collège Saint Pierre, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Today the museum is still a collection of blank, white walls, with hundreds of paintings stacked in a narrow storage area exposed to heat, humidity and other dangers. They are taken out only for the occasional cleaning. (AP PhotoDieu Nalio Chery)
It is one of dozens of well-known paintings that artists are still trying to rescue nearly a decade after the magnitude 7.0 quake killed an estimated 300,000 people or more and struck countless buildings, including the Museum of Haitian Art of St. Pierre College — one of the country's top institutions. More than 600 other watercolors and paintings by prominent artists are still in storage and in danger of decaying as a small group of artists struggles to restore the damaged works.
While life has begun anew for much of Haiti since the quake, the museum has been shuttered for nine years and only recently opened a tiny room to display a small quantity of art.
On a recent day, 91-year-old museum president Louis Du Bois walked briskly through the building, pointing out the damaged roof and walls as he occasionally put on his glasses to inspect certain paintings.
In this May 29, 2019 photo, Clautaire Leveille with the help of a worker, rolls up an earthquake damaged painting by Haitian artist Jean-Claude Toussaint, at the Musée d'Art du Collège Saint Pierre, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The painting depicting a lush jungle scene has nearly been ripped in half and also slashed diagonally. It remains rolled up with yellowed masking tape that has lost its stickiness. (AP PhotoDieu Nalio Chery)
"We have to reopen to the public," he said. "All the great artists are here."
The quake also devastated other public spaces dedicated to art across Haiti, with $30 million in losses reported at the Museum d'Art Nader, which had one of the world's most extensive collections of Haitian art.
But the Museum of Haitian Art is one of the few worldwide to host Haitian paintings from the 20th century. The museum, which previously drew 9,000 visitors a year, was established in the 1970s by art lovers to commemorate U.S. painter DeWitt Peters and is tucked into the southeast corner of Port-au-Prince's historic area. It features mostly donated artwork.
In this May 28, 2019 photo, Haitian artist Ernst Jeudy, left, helps to restore a painting by Haitian artist Edouard Duval Carrie, along with Franck Louissaint, center, Marc Gerard Estime, at the Musée d'Art du Collège Saint Pierre, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. "This means a lot to me because it's the restoration of a very rich heritage," he said. "It's great to be able to work and transmit this to future generations." Jeudy said. (AP PhotoDieu Nalio Chery)
Fewer than a dozen paintings are currently on display, including one titled "Marriage of Interest" by Rigaud Benoit, who is considered a master of Haitian painting, and "Tower of Babel" by Préfète Duffaut, whose work was collected by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Both men also painted murals inside a cathedral in Port-au-Prince that was flattened by the earthquake.
The museum's oldest painting dates to 1945 and is by seminal Haitian artist Hector Hyppolite.
The Smithsonian Institution has helped the museum restore some paintings, as has the Louvre, which also donated 1,000 copies of a catalog illustrating all of Hyppolite's paintings so local officials could sell them to help generate money.
In this July 1, 2019 photo, Haitian artist Franck Louissaint works on the painstaking renovation of a painting by Haitian artist Robert Saint Bruce, at the Musée d'Art du Collège Saint Pierre, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The earthquake ravaged museum, which used to draw 9,000 visitors a year, is tucked into the southeast corner of Port-au-Prince's historic area and features mostly donated artwork. (AP PhotoDieu Nalio Chery)
But the museum still has blank, white walls, with hundreds of works stacked in a narrow storage area exposed to heat, humidity and other dangers. They are taken out only for the occasional cleaning while the more than 30 earthquake-damaged works are being restored.
Among those needing attention is a 1960s lush jungle scene by Jean-Claude Toussaint, which is nearly ripped in half and also slashed diagonally. The painting remains rolled up with yellowed masking tape that has lost its stickiness.
Du Bois estimates that the museum needs $50,000 to reopen, noting the roof must be fixed and the electricity repaired before additional paintings can be displayed.
In this June 28, 2019 photo, Haitian artist Marc Gerard Estime works on the restoration of a painting by Haitian artist Edouard Duval Carrie, at the Musée d'Art du Collège Saint Pierre, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. While life has begun anew for much of Haiti after the quake, the museum has been shuttered for nine years.It only recently opened a tiny room to display a handful of paintings. (AP PhotoDieu Nalio Chery)
For now, he and others are relying solely on the restoration efforts of artists such as Erntz Jeudy of nearby Quisqueya University.
Jeudy recently sat in front of a 71-by-79-inch (180-by-200-centimeter) painting by Miami-based artist Edouard Duval Carrié titled "The Republican Army of Santo Domingo," which was stripped down to blank canvas in certain areas.
"This means a lot to me because it's the restoration of a very rich heritage," he said. "It's great to be able to work and transmit this to future generations."
In this June 28, 2019 photo, Haitian artist Marc Gerard Estime works works on the restoration of a painting Haitian artist Edouard Duval Carrie, that was damaged during the earthquake 2010 at the Musée d'Art du Collège Saint Pierre, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The painting "The Republican Army of Santo Domingo," that was stripped down to blank canvas in certain areas. (AP PhotoDieu Nalio Chery)
It's a feeling familiar for Louissaint, who works up to 10 hours at a time to restore Brice's painting. He said it makes him proud to have permission to touch such artwork.
"It's the story of the old Haiti," he said. "It starts to live again."
This July 4, 2019 photo, shows the damage on a painting caused by 2010 earthquake 2010, at the Musée d'Art du Collège Saint Pierre, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Louis Du Bois, a small, 91-year-old man who is president of the Museum of Haitian Art estimates that the museum needs $50,000 to reopen, noting that the roof has to be repaired, the electricity fixed and the majority of the more than 30 paintings that were extensively damaged in the quake restored. (AP PhotoDieu Nalio Chery)
In this July 4, 2019 photo, Clautaire Leveille walks inside the earthquake damaged Musée d'Art du Collège Saint Pierre, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The 2010 quake also devastated other museums and galleries across Haiti, with $30 million in losses reported at the Musée Galerie d'Art Nader, which had had one of the world's most extensive collections of Haitian art. (AP PhotoDieu Nalio Chery)
In this July 1, 2019 photo, Haitian artist Franck Louissaint works on the renovation of an earthquake damaged painting by Haitian artist Robert Saint Bruce, at the Musée d'Art du Collège Saint Pierre, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The 2010 quake also devastated other museums and galleries across Haiti, with $30 million in losses reported at the Musée Galerie d'Art Nader, which had had one of the world's most extensive collections of Haitian art. (AP PhotoDieu Nalio Chery)
This May 29, 2019 photo, shows a detail of the earthquake damaged painting by Haitian artist Robert Saint Bruce, that is being renovated by artist Franck Louissaint at the Musée d'Art du Collège Saint Pierre, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The Smithsonian Institution has helped the museum restore some paintings. (AP PhotoDieu Nalio Chery)
In this May 29, 2019 photo, photos of paintings damaged by the 2010 earthquake and needing restoration are displayed as a guide for renovators at the Musée d'Art du Collège Saint Pierre, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. While life has begun anew for much of Haiti after the quake, the museum has been shuttered for nine years. ( AP PhotoDieu Nalio Chery)
In this July 4, 2019 photo, Berthony Vilbrun points at a painting that was damaged during the earthquake 2010, at the Musée d'Art du Collège Saint Pierre, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The museum has only recently opened a tiny room to display a handful of paintings. (AP PhotoDieu Nalio Chery)