The Haitian cultural world learned of the death of Patrick Vilaire, who passed away on August 15, 2026, one month before his 85th birthday. A visual artist, sculptor, ceramist, writer and collector, he was among the most influential artists of his generation. For six decades, he pursued artistic creation, research on heritage and work with communities at the same time.

Born in Port-au-Prince on September 16, 1941, he turned to the visual arts at an early age. Trained as an engineer, he studied drawing at Galerie Ramponeau from 1955 to 1958, then ceramics at the Centre de céramique d’Haïti between 1956 and 1959. In 1959, he took part in a cultural exchange in Geneva under the auspices of the International Academy of Ceramics, which admitted him as a member in 1964.