Where ART Lives Magazine Volume 3 Number 3 | Page 28

Art on the Road
St. Martin - Sir Roland Richardson
Sir Roland Richardson celebrated his 73rd birthday this year, born May 18, 1944
in Marigot, St. Martin. His amazing history includes a family genealogy spanning
over 300 years on the island of St. Martin in the French West Indies, dating back
to the original European settlement, and Indian cultures.
His French ancestors were responsible for the building of Ft. Louis, as
representatives of King Louis XVI. Through the centuries, they have been
intricately involved in the establishment of government policy, the cultivation of
major agricultural plantations, for the introduction of telephone and electricity,
and the evolution of aviation in this region of the world.
He is a descendent of slavery as well as royalty, and poignantly represents the
beautiful blend of many races, many cultures, and many continents, that has
emerged within the last 100 years as a culture unique unto itself, Caribbean,
Creole.
Sir Richardson’s contributions to St. Martin span fifty years since his full-
scholarship Fine Arts education at the Hartford Art School, University of
Hartford, in Connecticut, now one of the finest schools for emerging artists in
the United States. Offered many opportunities to advance himself in prominent
cultural metro regions, like New York and Paris, Roland Richardson chose to
return to his little island of St. Martin to develop his artistry. He sensed his role
in recording his culture and St. Martin’s natural landscape, as being a vital link
from the past to the present for generations to come. His creations have found
homes on all continents of the world, beacons of the glorious Caribbean light
that radiates from each of his canvases.
Roland Richardson’s contribution as a leading “Plein Air” Impressionist artist of
our times, having just entered into the 21st century, has earned him recognition
as “the Father of Caribbean Impressionism” by journalists for many years. Over
100 one-man and group shows of Sir Richardson’s work from St. Martin have
toured internationally, in Museums, major Trade Centers and Fine Art galleries,
including many of the surrounding Caribbean islands, France, the Netherlands,
the Middle East, Belgium, Bulgaria, Russia, and the United States.
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rolandrichardson.com