We are proud to introduce you to a world of fine art filled with the light of the Caribbean by one of the region's most respected artists, Sir Roland Richardson.

 Born to a family whose French Caribbean heritage dates back to the 1700's on the island of St. Martin, Mr. Richardson has recorded his culture over the past forty years with his paintbrush and palette.
He paints pictures “en plein air”, working in the field, always from a living subject,

and while his roots are in the Caribbean, universities around the world are teaching aspiring artists about Roland Richardson's contributions to the realm of contemporary Plein Air Impressionism.
Sir Richardson has often been referred to as the “Father of Caribbean Impressionism” in reputed periodicals that include Caribbean Travel & Life, Island Magazine, Robb Report, the Washington Post, American Airlines Latitudes, and Elle. His mastery of multiple mediums include oil, watercolor, pastel, charcoal and extensive fine print-making in etching, engraving, aquatint, mezzotint, woodcut and drypoint.

Over 100 one-man and group shows in Museums, major Trade Centers and Fine Art Galleries have honored Roland Richardson's work in public exhibition, and while he remains devoted to a simple life of genuine focus, his artwork is rapidly earning the recognition and respect of art collectors and appreciators worldwide.

History is in the making as we enter the 21st century, bringing forth a school of art born only in the last fifty years, indigenous to this region of idealic light and abundant color. 

The School of Caribbean art now touches points all over the world, bright beacons of inspired imagery communicating a world, a culture, unknown to most only a half century ago.

How many have learned of the existence of the coralita, the soursop, mangoes and madras, the brilliant flamboyant trees bejeweling our islands, having seen them first in paintings from our Caribbean world?

We honor one among us, one man who has committed his whole life to this important world of communication through art, St. Martin’s native son leader and patriarch of Caribbean art,
Sir Roland Richardson.


In 1944, Roland Richardson was born to a world about to witness the end of World War II on this small but multi-national island. Inter-continental travel was mainly by sea, and what now are small car-rides on St. Martin, were full morning and day trips traveled by foot and donkey.  Marigot was long-distance to Grand Case; one hardly knew those born on the other side of the island.

In fact, most of life was devoted to surviving on what the island itself could provide, homegrown in backyards, the fields or brought from the sea.  Mornings for Richardson as a child were spent pulling fish-pots with his grandfather in Grand Case Bay or milking the cattle before getting off to school, barefooted, carrying his good shoes worn only in the classroom. 

The schoolhouse was a single room uniting all grades into one with rows of graduating ages and sizes and one formidable instructress.  The same rows were found at night, five to seven children, brothers and cousins who claimed their place on shared mattresses.


At age 17, the world of art was nothing Roland Richardson was familiar with, nothing that a career or income could be based on. 

So when a bright guidance counselor from the United States recognized a natural gift, a grace in drawing that Roland was born with, life suddenly took an unexpected turn for Roland Richardson, and St. Martin.

In 2003, the University of Hartford reached its 125th year, with its Hartford Art School being one of the most recognized American academies of fine art. In 1962, the school offered Roland Richardson a direction in life with a full scholarship through a five-year degree in Fine Art,where he met great encouragement and quickly rose to top in his class all five years.

 

Richardson traveled the globe, spending his early twenties in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Scandinavia before returning to St. Martin aboard a cargo ship on a long inspirational voyage home. 

His passion grew for working from life, continuously turning towards a living situation for his subject. 
It has yielded one of the largest bodies of Caribbean works by a single artist, in original oil, watercolor, pastel, charcoal drawing, fine print-making, batiks and stained glass, all focused on his color-filled Caribbean world.

  




For forty years, Richardson has challenged himself working “en plein air,” a classical methodology established in the mid- 19th century by the Barbizon School artists, tagged the “ Impressionists”. 

In the Caribbean, Roland has carried this methodology to the present, responding to the resplendent light that emanates from this beautiful region. Richardson works quickly, challenged by nature’s constant motion to capture his subject with astonishing spontaneity from live situations, while painting or drawing in multiple mediums. 

Every facet of our daily lives serves as subjects for Roland Richardson’s art, emerging as a record of our history.Our ever-changing landscape, the work and traditions of our people, each season’s bloom of flower turned to fruit, all are captured by Richardson’s imagery.
As he renders his daily service, he strives to bring forth in each creation a mirror of its time, its living community and the magnificent land surrounded by turquoise sea, on which the entire culture is based.

 


When one takes to the field to create a painting from life, something extraordinary occurs.  Light dances with the living panorama; clouds float, pout, spill, disappear; waves swell, cap, recede. 

Color is real and magical at the same time.  Life’s mystery lies beyond imagination.  Hours of meditative painting “en plein air” yields artworks that flow with an eternal pulse.


Roland Richardson's many years of study in printmaking have brought about its own level of regard among art collectors.A precious collection of fine prints in etching, engraving, works in aquatint, mezzotint, embossing, woodcuts, have all found a place in Richardson’s works with paper and plate.

Always purposefully observing light on his subject, Richardson strives to reveal the aura of the light, and was especially inspired by Rembrandt’s work four centuries ago within the realm of printmaking. To record scenes of architecture with historical accuracy, Roland often uses a mirror to facilitate his drawing of an image in reverse to compensate for the printing of the metal plate’s surface. 
His love of printmaking has brought forth over 350 original fine prints throughout the course of his career.

Today many artists arrive on our shores to live and work in our community, delivering new art to this growing community and school.  Among them, we offer our gratitude to one of the first, a prodigal son, who has forged a path of awareness for so many others.  To Roland Richardson, he sees himself as one man working in the field of God, struggling daily to grow in his gift and deliver something special to those who are destined to receive it.

 

Richardson's work has been exhibited extensively throughout the United States, his native St. Martin and surrounding Caribbean Islands, France, the Netherlands, Lebanon, Belgium, Bulgaria and Russia.

Over 100 one-man and group shows in Museums, major Trade Centers and Fine Art Galleries have honored Sir Richardson’s work in public exhibition.  Among his collectors are celebrated dignitaries and artists including Martha Graham, Jackie Kennedy Onasis, actor Harry Belafonte, artist Romare Bearden, Senator Edward Brooke, Ivan Lendl, the Getty family, actress Susan Luci, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands and former Prime Minister Raffarin of France.

Sir Richardson’s contribution to his native community on the island of St. Martin-St.Maarten involves also his many years as founding Editor-in-Chief of Discover Magazine and President of the Cultural and Historial Foundation of St. Martin.


Concerts, ballets, cultural festivals, preservation and restoration of the island’s architectural patrimony and many other artist’s exhibitions can be attributed to Richardson’s continued focus on the enrichment of his community’s cultural expansion.  He has been honored several times for his leadership with top awards and commissions from both the French and Dutch governments.

His close companion and wife, Laura Richardson, often assists Roland with his tour of exhibits and restoration of their West Indian home and gallery.  They are the proud parents of five children:  Aaron, Emilie, Jonathon, Vanella and Radiance, their littlest, who is often playing by their side.


Roland Richardson
St. Martin, French West Indies

Awards & Achievements

2001 Bronze Medal Award in Tourism by the French Government, Paris
2002 Portrait Commission of Queen Beatrix by the Government of the Netherlands Antilles
2003 Lifetime Achievement Award, French St. Martin Department of Tourism
2007 Knight in the Order of Orange Nassau Award, Dutch Royal Decorations from the court of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands

Individual Exhibitions

1968 American University, Beirut, Lebanon
1972-75 Annual Exhibit, Colombier, St.Martin
1974 Parc Floral Gallieni, Fort-de-France, Martinique
1975 Cultural Center Reminaisouta, Guadeloupe
1977 Giammaica Gallery, Los Angeles, California
1978 Gallery Seguier, Paris, France
1980 Number One North Street Gallery, St.Croix U.S.V.I.
1981 Central Falls Gallery, Soho, New York
1983 The West Indian Cultural Festival, New London, Connecticut
1984-95 Gallery Le Poisson d’Or, Marigot, St.Martin
1986 Nannette Bearden Fine Arts Gallery,
Philipsburg, St.Maarten
1986 Gallery 62, National Urban League, New York
1989 La Maison de Saint Martin, Ave. Friedland, Paris
1989 The Bruxelles International Trade Show, Bruxelles, Belgium
1990 Air France, Mulhouse, France
1990 Joan Joseph Gallery, West Hartford, Connecticut
1991 “Etchings-A Retrospective,” St.Martin Museum, Philipsburg
1992 “Caribbean Moods,” Maho, St.Maarten
1993 Alexandre Gallery, Sophia, Bulgaria
1993 Le Musee du Nouveau Monde, La Rochelle, France
1993-01 Miller Fine Art, Occoquan, Virginia
1994 La Maison Francaise, French Embassy, Washington, D.C.
1994 Museum Ex Libris, Moscow, Soviet Union
1995 St.Martin Museum, Inaugural Exhibition, Marigot
1996-08 La Samanna, St.Martin
1996 A.T. &T. Exhibition, the Uppercut, New York City
1997 Landhuis Bloemhof, Curacao N.A.
1998-08 American Society of Interior Designers National Hdqts,
Washington D.C.
2001-02 Guanahani, St. Barths, FWI
2001-06 Rendezvous Bay Hotel, Anguilla
2001 Michael’s & Ennio’s, Greenwich Village, NYC
2004-05 Flamboyant Gallery, St. Kitts, BWI
2005 Manassas Center for theArts, Virginia

Group Exhibitions

1971 1st Exhibition of Island Artists, St.Martin
1972 Group Exhibit, Kingston, Jamaica
1985 Gerald Melberg Gallery, in association with Romare Bearden, Charlotte, North Carolina
1988 “Bidi I colo”: Municipal Museum, Schiedam, Netherlands
1990 3eme Salon des Artistes Peintres d’Outre Mer, Paris
1991 “Gala di Artes,” Willemstaad, Curacao
1992 1st Biennal, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
1994 “West Kunst,” 75th Anniversary KLM, Rotterdam, Netherlands
1994-96 2nd & 3rd Biennal, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
2003 Caribbean Travel Organization, South St Seaport, NYC
2004 Norman Parrish Gallery, Washington, DC
2007 Art Off the Main, Soho, NYC

 

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