Another Rescue Effort Underway

As recovery efforts continue in Haiti, world attention remains focused on filling paramount needs such as food, shelter and medical care, disrupted by the catastrophic Jan. 12 earthquake.

While basic needs are overwhelming, a less tangible consequence of the devastation remains in the background. The detritus of destruction crushed Haiti’s rich artistic culture, including thousands of paintings, sculptures, artifacts and the renowned murals of Port-au-Prince’s cathedral.

Also destroyed are the renowned Musee Galerie D’Art Nader, a private, 35-room venue founded in 1966 by Lebanon-born art dealer Georges Nader Sr., and the city’s historic Centre d’Art, established in 1944 by DeWitt Peters, a California artist. Nader’s venue alone reportedly contained roughly 12,000 works, while another 3,000 survived at an undisclosed location outside the capital. (The number and nature of art works buried in the ruins of the presidential palace remains open to speculation.) Even in places like the Musee d’Art Haitien du College Saint Pierre where a few walls still stand, no one goes near for fear of collapse and perhaps because of more pressing priorities. The museum’s curator Michel-Philippe Lerebours

is reported among survivors, but then, there has been no account of how many artists are among the thousands who lost their lives.

Top, “Imaginary Scene” at Jacmel, Prefete Duffaut. Left, oil drum piece by George Liautaud. Above, locals Richard and Sande Schwartzstein amid their extensive Haitian art collection. As other countries help to re-establish the nation’s infrastructure, longtime Laguna Beach residents, Richard Schwarzstein and his wife Sande, are determined to galvanize support in Laguna Beach for the resurrection of a cherished art legacy or preserving what is left, in Haiti and abroad. “I am hopeful that the art community of Laguna Beach will feel a kinship with Haitian artists who now have lost everything, perhaps even their lives,” said Richard. He and Sande, an artist and former importer of Haitian art, are eager to connect with local artists and art groups to produce events benefiting Haiti-born artists and to or

preserve Haitian art. Laguna Beach residents since 1974 and passionate collectors of Haitian painting and sculpture, the couple also owned a house in Jacmel, Haiti. They lived there intermittently since 1970 for 16 years and operated an art gallery with a renowned partner, gallerist and author Selden Rodman. “The 1986 coup d’etat against Jean “Baby-Doc” Duvalier made it too dangerous to stay,” recalled Richard. “There was machine gun fire in the street and the airport was closed. We barely got out,” added Sande. In 1989 they finally sold the Jacmel house, whose new owners converted it into the Hotel Florita. It, too, was partially destroyed during the quake. “When we saw film clips of the devastation, we grieved with our old friend and all of Jacmel. But then, we also remembered how much Laguna had in common with a city steeped in art and culture and that had been such a popular tourist destination,” said Sande. About 148,000 people annually visited Haiti, though tourism slumped further by 2002, the most recent statistics available

from the Association of Caribbean States. Prior to the quake, Sande suggested tourism was rebounding from political upheaval and the post 9/11 slump that kept tourists from the island’s shores.

The couple, who had been living in New York, took an exploratory trip through the Caribbean in 1970 and fell in love with Haiti. After several visits and art buying jaunts, they bought a house in Jacmel in 1974, the same year they decided to make Laguna Beach their primary home. “We fell in love with Laguna Beach the same way we fell in love with Jacmel: the atmosphere, the beaches and the vibrant art community were similar,” the couple said.

Today the Schwarzsteins live in a charming home, a hybrid of Mediterranean and Mexican architecture. A comprehensive collection of Haitian paintings and artifacts fill the nooks and walls, including Wilson Bijaud’s colorful painting of Port au Prince harbor, countless Picassoesque Haitian sculptures made from recycled oil drums and a naïf rendition of the now-leveled Port au Prince Cathedral by G.E. Ducasse, among other treasures.

Their overall trove is distributed among family, but the couple enthusiastically shares their own favorites with select art lovers. Among the lucky borrowers are Laguna’s Community Art Project, Santa Ana’s Bowers Museum Collectors Council, board members of the Laguna Art Museum and the Laguna Beach Sisters City Association.

Richard Schwarzstein, a former museum board member, serves on the Laguna College of Art and Design board.

“I want to connect with all members of the Laguna art community and beyond to preserve the legacy of artists who have given us so much,” he said.

Organizations and individuals wishing to help can contact Schwarzstein via e-mail: Legalrjs@aol.com.