{"componentChunkName":"component---src-templates-article-js","path":"/valerie-brathwaite-artist-who-looked-to-the-caribbeans-landscape-for-inspiration-1938-2026/","result":{"data":{"wordpressPost":{"id":124640,"slug":"valerie-brathwaite-artist-who-looked-to-the-caribbeans-landscape-for-inspiration-1938-2026","title":"Valerie Brathwaite, artist who looked to the Caribbean’s landscape for inspiration, 1938–2026","excerpt":"The Trinidadian artist’s colourful sculpture reflected on organic and biomorphic form","content":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img src=\"https://backend.artreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-07-07-at-13.09.56-e1783440814844-1.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-124645\" srcset=\"https://backend.artreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-07-07-at-13.09.56-e1783440814844-1.png 760w, https://backend.artreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-07-07-at-13.09.56-e1783440814844-1-600x354.png 600w, https://backend.artreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-07-07-at-13.09.56-e1783440814844-1-300x177.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 760px) 100vw, 760px\" /><figcaption>Valerie Brathwaite. Courtesy MALBA</figcaption></figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Valerie Brathwaite, the Trinidadian artist whose colourful sculpture reflected on organic and biomorphic form, has died. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>Long a resident in Venezuela, the artist looked to the landscape, stones, flowers, fauna and so-called ‘soft bodies’ of the Caribbean for inspiration.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Brathwaite changed materials roughly every decade from the time she moved to Caracas in 1969: making drawings and sculpture in water-based clay and plaster in the 1970s; collages and prints in the 1980s; ceramic and fabric work from the 1990s; concrete pieces created from 2004 onward; and most recently turned to MDF reliefs. Throughout, however, the natural world was made strange, full of Pop colours and undulating forms: the fabric works were full of layered textile detailing, suggestive of some mystical purpose. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>‘I don’t intend to have any direct philosophy to explain my drawings and sculptures, nor am I committed to any specific artistic movement. But there are organic and sensual reminiscences in my works, which, I imagine, originate from my fascination with the overwhelming beauty of mountains, rocks, stones, exotic plants, women’s breasts and legs, male torsos, sunsets, and the marvellous bodies of animals,’ she said in a 1972 interview.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Brathwaite studied Interior Design and Art at Hornsey College of Art and the Royal College of Art in London – where she was taught by artist Hubert Dallwood – and at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, between 1959 and 1964; moving to Venezuela on the encouragement of the artist Gego. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>She had her first solo exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts in Caracas in 1975. In 2025, she was the subject of a retrospective at Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires and her work was featured at the <a href=\"https://artreview.com/bienal-do-mercosul-2025-review-oliver-basciano/\">14th Mercosur Biennial</a>, held in Porto Alegre, Brazil. </p>\n","path":"/valerie-brathwaite-artist-who-looked-to-the-caribbeans-landscape-for-inspiration-1938-2026/","format":"standard","date":"07 July 2026","rawDate":"2026-07-07T16:29:49.000Z","branch":{"name":"artreview.com"},"author":{"name":"ArtReview","path":"/author/artreview/"},"category":{"name":"News","path":"/category/news/"},"featured_media":{"source_url":"https://backend.artreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-07-07-at-13.09.56-e1783440814844-1.png","caption":"","alt_text":"","media_details":{"width":760,"height":449,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"source_url":"https://backend.artreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-07-07-at-13.09.56-e1783440814844-1-300x177.png","width":300,"height":177},"medium":{"source_url":"https://backend.artreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-07-07-at-13.09.56-e1783440814844-1-600x354.png","width":600,"height":354},"large":null,"wordpress_1536x1536":null,"wordpress_2048x2048":null}}},"acf":{"article_artist":null,"article_video":null,"article_audio":null,"article_collaboration":"","article_custom_html_snippet":"","article_featured_title":"","article_featured_description":"","article_highlight":false,"article_custom_link_url":"","hero_image":null,"seo_title":"Valerie Brathwaite, artist who looked to the Caribbean’s landscape for inspiration, 1938–2026","seo_description":"Valerie Brathwaite, the Trinidadian artist whose colourful sculpture reflected on organic and biomorphic form, has died. 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