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Carl Abrahams Born May 14, 1911 Died April 10, 2005
Born in 1911, he started his career as a cartoonist at the age of 17. Encouraged by British painter Augustus John, Abrahams began painting in 1937. But it was not until the mid-1950s that he found his true mode of expression - ironic transformations of the great mythological and religious themes. According to the Jamaica National Gallery "the wit and sheer inventiveness of the series coupled with the devout sentiment of a true believer marked Abrahams as Jamaica and the Caribbean's finest religious painter." Carl Abrahams is regarded as one of Jamaica's greatest pioneer artists. His recognition has been hard-won, possibly because he started his artistic career as a newspaper cartoonist. However, encouraged by his headmaster, Rev. Ernest Price, he also began copying old master paintings and documented local Jamaican scenes. He became fascinated with spiritual and mythical topics and tried to depict the scenes he visualized from his reading of the Bible and Greek classics. These are the themes that he would return to repeatedly during his long career as an artist. Abrahams' paintings are highly collectible, and have earned their popularity with Jamaican art lovers because of an endearing style that meets the viewers' needs for narrative representation, but with imagery that appear modern. The combination of simplified forms, dark outlines, bold and acidic colours make his paintings easily distinguishable. It is stylized but not stylish. Abrahams’ choice of subject matter, satirical wit, and his idiosyncratic style confirm that Abrahams is a unique and significant Jamaican artist. During his lifetime, he received many national honours, additionally two of his religious works were featured on Jamaican stamps, marking the advent of the third millennium. His painting Woman I Must Be About My Father's Business was loaned to the City of Edinburgh’s Light of the World exhibition to commemorate the 2000th anniversary of Christ's birth. Famous Pieces Last Supper Destruction of Port Royal Woman I Must Be About My Father's Business Adam and Eve Thirteen Israelites The Henry Ford Show Pan and His Musicians Backyard Preacher The Hand of Columbus The Ascension Hallelujah |