Albert Huie: Master Jamaican Painter and Printmaker

Albert Huie was born in Falmouth, Jamaica on

December 31, 1920. Huie knew his destiny at an early
age, as he began doodling with charcoal, from his
grandmother’s old coal stove, on the floor and walls of
his Falmouth home.
While his family's desire was for him to become a
teacher, it was his grandmother Sarah alone, who,
having recognized his talent was resolute in standing
behind him to pursue his life dream of becoming an
artist. She aided him monetarily to strike out on his
own and told him to go to Kingston, the capital city.
This he did at the age of 16, where he soon began
honing his craft by painting on fine china and glass. There is an amusing
parallel here as, unbeknownst to Huie; the great Impressionist painter Renoir
also began his career as a professional china painter.
During this period, Huie took the paintings and sketches he had done around
the streets of Kingston and showed them to K. Delves Molesworth, then
Secretary of the Institute of Jamaica, who instantly recognized the raw talent
in front of him. Molesworth encouraged him to paint professionally and
further along commissioned Huie to paint portraits of his family. Very soon it
became the fashion for the upper class to have their portraits painted by
Albert Huie. His impeccable use of light, whilst observing and painting people
in the early years, was often likened to the works of the great masters of
Impressionism. One such patron one day suggested to Huie that she would
like him to paint in a landscape as the background for her daughter's
portrait.
This led Huie into his greatest love of all, the study of nature and the brilliant
Jamaican sunlight, and how it affects everything around it. His eyes see
beauty in all things, and light and colour held a peculiar fascination for him.
One art critic in Jamaica went as far as to describe him as 'only' a colourist.
Huie says: “There can be no hard and fast rule for colour in nature, because
it is controlled by light. The type of cloud, for example, through which the
light filters, and many other changing variables. The most conclusive
evidence of light in terms of colour, is that colour at night is different from
colour in the day, but the variations during the day are not only of
colour.....sometimes the mountains vary in form and texture, sometimes
grainy, sometimes wooly, sometimes flat".
It all has to do with the eye and keen observation. His work stands squarely
in the Figurative camp and he makes no apologies for this. Fuelled by this
fascination, Huie found the scenery in Jamaica inspiring, and has traversed
the length and breadth of the island dutifully recording its landscape. His
Landscapes, Portraits, Figure Compositions, and Still Life paintings all
embrace the tactical use of light, which has been his life-long struggle.
In 2001, Huie received his greatest acclaim: the publication of the first book
on his life and work. Written by the internationally renowned author,
historian, curator, art critic, and photographer, Edward Lucie-Smith, it is
titled: ALBERT HUIE: FATHER OF JAMAICAN PAINTING. This book spans six
decades of his work and covers five genres. Thus it is that his grandmother
Sarah's dream was not all that far fetched. He, through his work, has taught
many to see the beauty inherent in whatever he has carefully observed and
captured on canvas Huie has shown in many exhibitions, in many countries
of the world, and he has earned an international reputation, as his work is
represented in many private collections world wide. There is a story behind
every image...Enjoy!

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