Artist Statement

Photos of this artist's work.

As a child when I was told that I was an artist, I would always retort, "No!"

I like to make things. I made my tools my paint. I even used gumbo as a binder to mix some pigment I received from a sugar factory. I have carved stone, wood and some very special bark from the Moubin tree.

All of the arts interested me and gave me my raison d'etre, my reason for being. My art fed me sometimes physically, but always spiritually. I worship life through art; with the simple insouciance of the new moss in the crack of the sidewalk, the persistent weed, and the ever-new and surprisingly versatile orchid.

I feel justified in believing that there is one life and we are just another manifestation of what has no odor, no color, no tangibility, but still manages to make a few chemicals, matter and water into a thinking maker of things.

• Residency Periods: May 1 - May 31, 2006; August 9 - October 4, 2000
• Art Show: May 26 & 27, 2006

Born in François, Martinique on January 5, 1922, the son of Appien Constance Raymonde and Quentin Joseph Marie-Rose Dite Cétoute, Henri Marie-Rose Dite Cétoute, who later simply went by Henri Marie-Rose (without actually changing his name), was a San Francisco resident for 58 years, living initially in North Beach before settling on Potrero Hill.

As documented in a publication by the Alliance Française de San Francisco in May of 1995 when they hosted a retrospective exhibition of his work, Henri began sculpting at the age of seven. One day while walking down the street in his hometown of François, he saw a stone lying on the ground. Somewhere inside the stone, he saw a dog. The little dog, a mongrel, was crouching. He picked up the stone and eventually brought the dog out of the stone. It was not easy; he had no tools. But Henri befriended the local iron monger, who let him use the fire to make a cold chisel. And so began the sculptor's career.

Next, he was stung by the urge to paint, and again his resourcefulness came to the fore. Watercolors and art supplies were not easy to come by in François, so Henri went to the local paint factory to beg for some pigment. He mixed the pigment with okra, guessing correctly that the vegetable's gooey liquid would act as a binding agent. Later, he perfected his paint by replacing the okra with tapioca starch.

He attended the École des Arts et Métiers and the École des Arts Appliqués in Martinique. He had three one man shows in 1940, 1942 and 1943 and was appointed Attaché Culturel au Projet d'Urbanisme, all before the age of twenty. He was commissioned to create a bust of the prominent volcanologist Frank Perret, which to this day stands in the town square of the city of St. Pierre in Martinique, which was destroyed by the eruption of Mt. Pelée on May 8, 1902, a tragedy that left only two survivors. He was honored by the US Navy, stationed off the island, with a tour of the area on a US Battleship.

Shortly thereafter, he was awarded a scholarship by the French Government to study at the École National Supérieure des Beaux Arts in Paris, but got only as far as North Africa when the Second World War broke out. There, he studied ceramics with Lamaly, Master of Safi. He had two one man shows in Casablanca, and was sponsored by noted French painter Joseph de La Néziére, who deeded Henri a beautiful and very old house and garden located in the Montmartre district of Paris. Henri later gave the house to the family of his sponsor, whom he cared for before he died in 1944 at the age of 74. He was active in the military service with the French Army from 1944-1945.

Henri studied at "Beaux Arts" for over eight years. He was appointed assistant to the professor (Massier), and was awarded ten prizes and medals, as well as a travel scholarship to Greece. He also attended École des Arts Appliqués and École des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, and had one man shows there in 1947, 1948, 1949 and 1953, as well as Switzerland in 1947 and Baden Baden, Berlin and Munich Germany and Corsica in 1948.

During this period, he met an art student, Marjorie Raitt, who was attending the Sorbonne and the Académie Julian, having recently graduated from Stanford University (Class of 1949). The couple married in 1952 and traveled by freighter to San Francisco the following year, settling in the historic and culturally relevant neighborhood of North Beach. Two years later, the couple purchased a home on sunny Potrero Hill, where Henri continued to sculpt, paint, create jewelry, draw, as well as repair their small Victorian house. The following year, he won the Emanuel Walter Purchase Prize at the 73rd Annual San Francisco Art Association.

During the next two years, he participated in ten events including the third Biennial of Sao Paulo, Brazil in 1955, winning prizes and recognition for his painting. He was a faculty member of the California School of Fine Arts (San Francisco Art Institute) from 1956 to 1959.

He had nine more exhibits and traveling shows throughout California, Oregon, Washington and New Mexico during 1958 and 1959. He performed an eighteen-week series entitled "Techniques in Sculpture" on the PBS station KQED channel 9 in San Francisco. In 1960, his work was exhibited in a one-man show at the M. H. De Young Museum in Golden Gate Park. The show filled two large rooms, and included twenty-eight sculptures of welded steel, copper and brass, sculpted lead, and carved wood and marble. The show was hosted by the Cultural Attaché of France.

Henri's work is or has been exhibited publicly all over San Francisco, including the lobby of the Comstock Hotel near Grace Cathedral on Nob Hill and the facade of the Fire Station on Sansome Street. A piece which adorned the facade of Notre Dame des Victoires Church on Bush Street was removed following a retro fitting several years ago. A piece which was originally placed at the entrance of the North Beach Police Station, was eventually moved to the front of The Ocean Park Health Center. Unfortunately this sculpture was stolen several years ago. Three sculptures previously adorned the garden of the IBM Building in San Jose.

During the early 1960s, the couple had two sons: Pierre-Joseph and Philippe-Laurence, born in 1961 and 1963 respectively. Philippe, an industrial psychologist, has since moved to Washington, just outside Seattle, and he and his wife Karen have two children, Madeleine, age 10, and Connor, age 9. Pierre, a pediatric specialist, remains a life long San Francisco (Potrero Hill) resident; he and his wife Yesenia have one daughter, Andrea, age 4.

Henri Marie-Rose was a man of many talents. He entertained scores of people over the years singing songs from Martinique and France while playing his drum. He could memorize and recite entire passages of classical French poetry and plays, and performed in theatrical productions. He traveled with a modern dance troupe throughout Europe after the Second World War. Henri spent his final years as a teacher and mentor to the participants in the Artist in Residence Program sponsored by Recology, which provides artists the opportunity to create art from previously discarded materials. It was also the location of the most recent exhibition of his work, which took place in 2006. The show consisted of entirely "new" pieces. Another show was to have taken place early this year, but Henri's failing health ultimately precluded such an event. A retrospective show of his work is currently being organized and will take place in May.

Henri's love of nature and creating art never waned. In the interview published by the Alliance Française de San Francisco, he was quoted as saying: "Sculpture puts me in touch with the sensuality that speaks to the mind and the soul. Sculpting is like vacating the shell and looking at it. I try to make sculpture that is decent, neat, organic. Then it is there, and everybody takes what they want from it... or not. I sculpt for the pleasure of discovering what is beautiful and what is not. Sculpting soothes my apprehensions."

The life of this unique, creative, and hard-working human being ended on Friday, March 12, 2010, at the age of 88. Henri is survived by his wife Marjorie, his sons Philippe-Laurence and Pierre-Joseph, his grandchildren Madeleine, Connor and Andrea, his sister Raphaelle (residing in New Caledonia), as well as numerous half-brothers and half-sisters (residing in Martinique and Paris). Henri's family is currently searching for an appropriate permanent location in Martinique to display his art work...It was his wish.