Blackness in the Haitian Paintings of Ellis Wilson‪.‬

The Making of the Artist It is imperative to start with an account of Ellis Wilson's background and artistic development because the account of the different stages of Wilson's artistic career elucidates the necessity of his trip to Haiti in his systematic artistic growth. The ground for claiming that Wilson's artistic development is systematic consists in the inherent purpose that recurs in every step of his artistic production. Wilson strives to capture Blackness by being receptive to the cultural practices of African-Americans in the South and then to those of the Haitian people. The present piece wishes to demonstrate that Wilson's artistic development is methodical by focusing upon the various stages that his style of painting undergoes until its culmination in the paintings of Haiti's rural life. The essential continuity of each preceding and successive stage of Wilson's style will become apparent as the essay unfolds. The development of Wilson's style can be divided into segments, which constitute a series of turning points. The incentive of this approach is to accentuate the unity of Wilson's artistic career, which reached its summit in the paintings of Haiti's rural life. The analysis of the various stages of Wilson's style will draw out the inherent continuity of his development and the way that his late paintings of Haiti fulfill his artistic aspiration.