Ritual Gourd depicting A Goue
Andre Pierre, Haitian, 1914 - 2005
collected 1966
Oil paint on a calabash (kwi)
Overall: 13 1/8 × 10 1/4 × 3 1/2 in. (33.3 × 26 × 8.9 cm)
Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Gift of Micaela and Jack Mendelsohn, Class of 1956
2015.70.4
Geography
Place Made: Haiti, Caribbean, Central America
Period
20th century
Object Name
Ceremonial Artifact
Research Area
Americas
On view
Inscriptions
Inscribed, in black paint, lower center: A Goue; initialed, in black paint, upper right side: A. P.; inscribed, in black paint, on sail: Immamou
Label
André Pierre was a Haitian vodou priest and religious artist known for painting vodou deities. The lavishly dressed Freda is associated with love, beauty, and luxury and hails from the Erzulie, a family of loa or iwa (vodou spirits) associated with water, fluidity, and femininity. She is married to Agoué (also known as Agwé) who is represented on the other kwi (or calabash) dressed in a sailor’s uniform. He stands in the sea next to his ship inscribed with “Immamou,” which ferries the dead to the afterlife. These religious images celebrate African-descended people’s perseverance and adaptation in the diaspora.
From the 2023 exhibition Liquidity: Art, Commodities, and Water, curated by Michael Hartman, Jonathan Little Cohen Associate Curator of American Art
Course History
ANTH 7, Haiti and Its Visitors, Chelsey Kivland, Winter 2019
French Living and Learning Center, Loic Lerme, Fall 2021
Humanities 2.01, The Modern Labyrinth, Lucas Hollister, Petra McGillen, Andrea Tarnowski, Laura Edmondson, Winter 2023
Art History 20.04, Faith and Empire, Beth Mattison, Spring 2023
Spanish 60.04, Caribbean Afrodecendancies, Magdalena Lopez, Spring 2023
First Year Student Enrichment Program - Cultures, Identities and Belongings, Francine A'Ness, Summer 2023
Exhibition History
Liquidity: Art, Commodities, and Water, Israel Sack Gallery and the Rush Family Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, July 29, 2023-June 16, 2024.
Provenance
The artist, Port-au-Prince, Haiti; sold to Micaela and Jack Mendelsohn, July 1966; collection of Micaela and Jack Mendelsohn, Washington, D.C., 1966-2015; given to present collection, 2015.
This record is part of an active database that includes information from historic documentation that may not have been recently reviewed. Information may be inaccurate or incomplete. We also acknowledge some language and imagery may be offensive, violent, or discriminatory. These records reflect the institution’s history or the views of artists or scholars, past and present. Our collections research is ongoing.
We welcome questions, feedback, and suggestions for improvement. Please contact us at: Hood.Collections@dartmouth.edu